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LONG before Howard Dean attacked the DLC, they attacked him. In April they attacked Dean for his anti-war view: Just as the swift liberation of Iraq has strengthened the Blair Democrats, it has weakened the party's antiwar contingent, whose worst fears failed to materialize. The outcome deals a near-fatal blow to the presidential prospects of Howard Dean, whose staunch opposition to the war thrilled Iowa's left-leaning activists but is out of step with rank-and-file Democrats, about two-thirds of whom approve of the war. Moreover, because 75 percent of all voters back the war, the odds that Democrats will make Bush's day by serving up an antiwar nominee as his opponent in 2004 seem long indeed. http://www.ndol.org/ndol_ci.cfm?contentid=251557&kaid=127&subid=171In May Al From, founder and CEO of the Democratic Leadership Council and Bruce Reed, President of the DLC, yesterday circulated this memo to “Leading Democrats” in which they argue that traditional Democratic values are “an aberration” and that the thousands of grassroots Democrats inspired by Governor Dean’s message to “take back our party” are “activist elites” and not “real Democrats.” https://secure2.convio.net/dfa/site/SPageServer?pagename=copy_of_takebackdemocratsAgain in May the DLC said Dean, Dennis Kucinich, former Sen. Carol Mosely-Braun and Al Sharpton, flunked this first test. Talking about the first debate because they didn't support the war! http://www.ndol.org/ndol_ci.cfm?contentid=251567&kaid=131&subid=192Also in May they AGAIN attack Dean and Kucinich: For example, presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich's economic plan revolves around one thrust: a "massive public works to rebuild our cities, our water systems, our public transportation systems, our schools, our parks. "
To the extent that he even talks about the economy, another contender, Howard Dean, stresses health-care, education, and social-welfare spending.
In contrast, centrist Democratic candidates have focused on advocating an alternative to both Keynesian economics and Bush's supply-side economics.
http://www.ndol.org/ndol_ci.cfm?contentid=251582&kaid=107&subid=123
Again in May they attack Dean by saying:
Myth number one: "Real Democrats Always Turn Left." This myth is represented by Gov. Howard Dean's stump speech line that he represents the "Democratic wing of the Democratic Party." Unfortunately, both the conventional wisdom and the Dean boast are based on the false premise that party activists, not the party rank-and-file, represent the heart and soul of the Democratic Party. We believe New Democrats best represent the traditions of the Democratic Party as exemplified by Roosevelt, Truman, Kennedy and Clinton, and the actual values and economic aspirations felt by rank-and-file Democrats today.
http://www.ndol.org/ndol_ci.cfm?contentid=251692&kaid=131&subid=192
Again in May (wow, they hit hard in May) they bash Dean:
What activists like Dean call the Democratic wing of the Democratic Party is an aberration: the McGovern-Mondale wing, defined principally by weakness abroad and elitist, interest-group liberalism at home. That's the wing that lost 49 states in two elections, and transformed Democrats from a strong national party into a much weaker regional one.
http://www.ndol.org/ndol_ci.cfm?contentid=251690&kaid=127&subid=900056
In June, the DLC again thats a swipe at Dean and other anti-war candidates:
The party divide shows up in today's nomination contest. On one side are anti-war candidates Dennis Kucinich and Howard Dean, whose arguments echo those of Henry Wallace and George McGovern. On the other are Joe Lieberman, John Kerry, Dick Gephardt, and John Edwards, who, like Britain's Tony Blair, backed using force against Iraq on the condition that President Bush challenge the United Nations to do its job. While scathingly critical of Bush's botched Iraq diplomacy, once an impasse was reached in the U.N. Security Council, they did not flinch from going to war with a smaller coalition.
http://www.ndol.org/ndol_ci.cfm?contentid=251785&kaid=127&subid=171
In July the DLC REALLY using the McGovern talking points!
The fact is, "the Democratic wing of the Democratic Party," as former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean likes to call it, is an aberration, a modern-day version of the old McGovern wing of the party, defined principally by weakness abroad and elitist interest-group liberalism at home. That wing lost the party 49 states in two elections and turned a powerful national organization into a much weaker, regional one.
http://www.ndol.org/ndol_ci.cfm?contentid=251866&kaid=85&subid=65
Also in July the DLC attacks Dean's campaign, saying it'll be a dot-com bust!
http://www.ndol.org/ndol_ci.cfm?contentid=251916&kaid=127&subid=177
In July, they state that Dean is too far to the left to win the election, and that nominating him would be a disaster:
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F50B1FF6345B0C7A8EDDAE0894DB404482
In September, the DLC attacked Dean's trade stance, saying it'd be a disaster!
http://www.ndol.org/ndol_ci.cfm?contentid=252062&kaid=131&subid=207
In November, they attacked Dean about trying to get southernors to vote in the election.
http://www.ndol.org/ndol_ci.cfm?contentid=252174&kaid=131&subid=192
Also in November, the DLC attacked Dean's stance on reregulation.
http://www.ndol.org/ndol_ci.cfm?contentid=252220&kaid=131&subid=192
As well in November, they said: What was Davis' mistake? Early in his first term, he governed as a moderate but, later on, pretty much capitulated to the left-wing-dominated legislature on critical issues such as the budget, advocacy for gay rights, and illegal aliens' drivers' licenses. Becoming a willing prisoner of the legislative party was Davis' cardinal error, one that Democrats should watch out for nationally, particularly in light of the success, so far, of the Howard Dean campaign.
http://www.ndol.org/ndol_ci.cfm?contentid=252197&kaid=127&subid=173
In early December they attacked Dean again on his guns/god/gays/ speech. Again calling him McGovern.
The heart of Dean's reply was: "hy can't we talk about jobs, health care and education, which is what we all have in common, instead of allowing the Republicans to consistently divide us by talking about guns, God, gays, abortion and all this controversial social stuff that we're not going to come to an agreement on?"
We're not sure which is more doomed to fail -- the naive hope that if we just change the subject, divisive issues will go away, or the condescending idea that Americans who care passionately about "all this controversial social stuff" should move on and care about something else.
As Clinton showed time and again, the way to deal with divisive issues is to actually deal with them.
Gov. Dean is embracing one of the historic fallacies of pre-Clinton Democratic politics, in dividing issues into "our turf" and "their turf." Throughout the 1980s, polls showed Democrats holding a consistent advantage over the GOP on issues like education, health care, and the environment -- "our turf." But Republicans held even bigger advantages on national security, managing the economy, and "values" issues -- "their turf."
http://www.ndol.org/ndol_ci.cfm?contentid=252248&kaid=131&subid=192
Later in the month, the DLC attacked Dean again about his comment on Saddam.
Gov. Dean's foreign policy speech in Los Angeles got more attention than others for two reasons. First, it was telegraphed by his campaign as evidence of his repositioning as a "centrist" on foreign policy. And second, it contained the deeply unfortunate assertion that Saddam Hussein's capture by U.S. troops did not make America safer. That line was not just another trademark "off-message" ad-lib by Dean, since one of the speech's key weaknesses was a glaring disconnect between his defiant defense of his opposition to the war in Iraq, and his efforts to make it clear he supports the use of force to defend America's interests elsewhere in the world. Nowhere does he offer an alternative course the United States could have taken in dealing with the threat that Dean has acknowledged Saddam posed.
http://www.ndol.org/ndol_ci.cfm?contentid=252271&kaid=131&subid=192
He took the attacks, not really bashing the DLC for how many months? From the looks of it, since April. So, IMO, Dean has every right to attack the DLC. They've called him a disaster on trade policy, a far-left liberal out of touch with America, an economic failure, and someone that'd lose in McGovern fashion. Hm, those DO sound like Republican talking points. So, maybe Dean was RIGHT when he said the DLC is the Republican wing of the Democratic Party.
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