CNN: Ford to head DLC

[Infinite Hope]

Wolf interviewed Harold Ford about his new position. Ford brought it up that all Democratic presidential candidates have done some work with the DLC at some point. He also said Obama called him recently saying he wanted to work with the DLC.

Edited to include Ford's first name.

[SoCalDem]

1. Not surprising. He's a perfect fit.

:eyes:

[tularetom]

12. You got that right - what a disappointment

I made the mistake of contributing to his senate campaign before I knew very much about him. Then I heard him talk about how important jeebus was to him and how he agreed with a lot of what * advocated. And I thought, this dork sounds just like Joe Loserman. I have to say I wasn't totally broken hearted when he lost. He's your basic corporate-owned Democrat. Fortunately he isn't a charismatic individual so he won't be winning a lot of hearts and minds for the DLC bullshit agenda.

[TornadoTN]

34. Don't underestimate the charisma factor

Ford has a lot of charisma - that's one of the reasons we found a lot of Democratic-leaning voters even cast their vote for him in the first place (that and the fact he had a "D" beside his name). He's well spoken and can hit the right buttons with his intended audience - but it's also his undoing. As I have posted elsewhere in this thread, he stands for everything and nothing at the same time. He is a calculated centrist that leans right so much that a lot of voters didn't vote for him for this reason. They either sat out the race or cast their vote for Corker (if they were originally right-leaning independents).

Even though the race was relatively close, we saw a lot of signs around October 1 (in the run up to and the aftermath of the torture bill) that people just didn't feel like he was genuine. He changed his positions and his rhetoric on every campaign stop and the media here caught onto it and reported it - as it very well should have. But his handlers from the DLC kept giving him the orders to sway right heavily and it bit him in the end.

While I respect him and I hope that he eventually comes to understand what his positions truly are, I hope we don't have to endure him here in this state again. Now it looks like the rest of the country will have to learn the hard way what many of us Tennessee Democrats have known all along.

[ShortnFiery]

2. That's not a good sign: "Obama working with the Corporate DLC"

:(

[Renew Deal]

4. It could be a ploy to help Hillary.

"Working with" is quite vague.

[xultar]

13. I know. Very vague. But what is funny is the people who'd be the loudest

on this weren't going to support him anyways.

[TornadoTN]

39. I'm being pretty vocal about this, and I'm in the Obama corner

We'll have to wait and see how this plays out, but its not a good sign if they try to influence Obama to "moderate" his views (a.k.a. - become Republican-lite).

I don't mind having a multitude of voices and interests in the party - it can only make it stronger. But trying to dominate the discussion and hand-pick candidates that are somehow considered to be worthy to one particular group will get us nowhere fast.

[Infinite Hope]

21. Hillary isn't behind everything. Obama is the one who called the DLC. n/t

[insane_cratic_gal]

29. Didn't Hillary and Bill Create the DLC?

Or just about, don't forget she's just as much of a centrist as Obama.

Right now, there is NO perfect candidate who has thrown their hat in.

Lucky for us The Right is having the same problem.


Where is Gore when you need him, he could be the unsung hero if entered.

[sandnsea]

10. "work with" is clearly NOT joining

It's actually a good sign.

[BayCityProgressive]

3. You know

the DLC is a right wing tool. Look how much coverage the MSM gives it. They never mention any progressive think tanks or the progressive caucus. They sometimes mention MoveOn.org to deride it or bash ANSWER and that's about it.

[Mojambo]

5. If we're not careful the DLC will lose an almost un-loseable election in '08 n/t

[Cleita]

15. Yep, if anyone can turn around our gaining popularity, it's them. n/t

[devilgrrl]

6. The Democratic Loser Committee - "We Lose Elections Right!"

eom

[Hippo_Tron]

8. My favorite "Mondale and McGovern lost in landslides, we just lose by a little bit"

[Perky]

17. The only Dems to win since FDR

have been Centrists

Truman
Kennedy (look at the tax cuts)
LBJ (pragmatic more than libeal plus the escalation itn Vietnam)
Carter(Governed as a moderate)
Clinton (the Big Dog has a big blue streak)
Gore (another DLCer)

When we run liberals we don't win and sometime we get slapped silly by the electorate.

Its' not that liberals are wrong. It is usually because we let the GOP define us. (McGovern, Mondale, Dukakis, Kerry)

[BayCityProgressive]

20. JFK, LBJ

Truman..moderates? Many on the left thought FDR was too moderate. Even Carter or Clinton would have accomplished more progressive legislation if the congress worked with them. Any Dem we get will be at least center-left.

[rinsd]

27. I would say they were moderates

Presidents don't really follow nice neat little ideological boxes most times.

After all Nixon created the EPA.

JFK - semi-hawkish, lowered taxes

Truman - Dropped the bomb, broke a strike, Korean War

LBJ - hawkish foreign policy

"Any Dem we get will be at least center-left"

Very true but the point was that left-left candidates have not had the success of the center-left candidates in the last 50 years or so.

[Hippo_Tron]

24. Yesterday's centrists are today's liberals

Kennedy cut the top income tax bracket from 90% to 70%. Anybody who advocated the rich paying 70% of their income today would be called a communist and laughed at. Carter's "moderate" governing wasn't anywhere near as moderate as Clinton or today's Democrats.

The fundamental flaw with the DLC is that they believe there's still an actual left wing of the democratic party like there was in the 60's and 70's. There isn't. Today's left is barely yesterday's center and today's center is far more like Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford than Jimmy Carter.

I'd be perfectly fine with having centrist candidates if they were the centrists we had in the 1960's and the 1970's, not the ones that we have today.

[TornadoTN]

40. Centrist's today a.k.a. Republican-lite

There's really not a better way to phrase it. While there are some "centrists" that take stances on economic matters that truly are centrist in thought, the other issues out there render the true centrist obsolete.

[Horse with no Name]

41. You can't get in the way of the new centrists and their new memes

If people wanted status quo (Republican/Republican-lite) we wouldn't have seen the landslide elections in November.
People want change...not more of the same, but some are harder to convince than others.
All I can say is that Ford's loss really wasn't. He is nothing but a Republite and I am glad to have one less Liebermanesque Congresscritter to worry about.

[Lord Byron]

26. LBJ was a liberal

He'd be on the far left of the Democratic Party today. We've moved rightward over time.

[SOS]

44. They won, but...

Truman - so unpopular due to Korean War, he lost the NH primary and withdrew.
LBJ - so unpopular due to Vietnam War, he barely beat McCarthy in NH and withdrew.
Carter - one term, lost to Reagan.
Gore - his move from economic populism at the convention to DLC-style centrism cost him 10 points.

The centrist history is not a resounding success. Also, Johnson, Truman, Carter and Kennedy were liberals on domestic affairs.
The Democrat who shakes off corporate interests and campaigns for the well being of the American working family is our best bet for the future.

[mitchtv]

7. Oh well

:puke:
bad times ahead

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

9. Politics as usual for professional politicians. $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

Gotta keep those bribes...er...donations coming in.

[sandnsea]

11. John Kerry is not a member

I could be wrong, but weren't you one of the ones wanting evidence that Kerry was DLC? We just got it and the answer is NO.

[Infinite Hope]

25. Wasn't me. This is the first I've engaged any DLC debate.

Frankly, I'm indifferent to the DLC. I view them as just another Democratic camp in the Democratic tent. I tend to be between the liberals and DLC.

Kerry is not a member. Ford said on CNN 'Kerry is no longer a member.'

[TornadoTN]

37. A camp within the party that tends to dominate decision making

That's one of my problems with the DLC after having dealt with this first hand and listening to them throw common sense to the wind in the Ford campaign. They look at liberals/progressive or anyone that isn't a centrist as a problem and immediately discount their value to the party. While polling here in Tennessee showed a substantial number of people opposed to the war and an unfavorable opinion of the G.O.P. and of Bush himself, they felt that their best shot at winning the state was by running a candidate (Ford) that would echo the same, almost verbatim, claims as the Republican candidate.

The race was Ford's to lose - and that he did by listening to the advice of the DLC. We lost a lot of good people that worked for the campaign because of their insistence that we act Republican - and forced a lot of people out that were considered too leftist. Beyond that, they turned Ford into a puppet.

I don't have a problem with many camps inside a political party - that in itself is advantageous. But when that means transforming into a Republican-lite organization that offers no alternatives to the status quo, then I seriously have a problem with that.

[cynatnite]

33. I don't think he's a member, but he did give a speech to them in '04

I view them as just another part of the democratic party so I don't view anyone's membership or relationship with DLC as a bad thing.

[Zodiak]

35. Kerry is not a member?????

That's AWESOME!!!!!

I'll remove the flag from my list. Thank the Spaghetti monster because I had to always be careful to not extend my anti-DLC rhetoric to Kerry because his voting record doesn't reflect a DLC ideology.

Now the most liberal DLCer is Clinton.

[TornadoTN]

42. "Most liberal DLC-er is Clinton"

Now that's a telling statement about the DLC.....

[Zodiak]

43. It is

Clinton votes about 50% progressive. The entire rest of the DLC Senat is below her. There are no non-DLC members in the bottom ten.

[orleans]

14. who ford? ford who? n/t

[madfloridian]

16. Carville wanted him to be DNC chair.

But it was taken. x(

I see Obama is getting on board with them now. That he called Ford for their support.

[BayCityProgressive]

18. They will swiftboat anyone

who doesn't play nice with them. They are vipers.

[HereSince1628]

19. Welcome to my little blacklist of DLC'ers Mr. Ford.

A party of the people simply cannot be run by people who view themselves as distinctly elite.

The Democratic Party has been plagued with good-old boy, late night, smoke-filled room games for way too long. Thanks to the "internets" a clique of self-styled and self-professed elites in a room is no longer recognized as a legitimate quorum. We no longer accept as inevitable or acceptable, that leadership will respond to payola from corporate lobbiests who dictate the future to the "Party."

Please note, I edited this after the first reply.

[Infinite Hope]

28. This described my limited qualms with the DLC. Thanks. n/t

[TornadoTN]

22. As a Tennessean, this is bad news indeed - and doesn't bode well

I worked for the Ford campaign in a managerial capacity in one of the sections of the state. Don't get me wrong, Ford is a great guy and is certainly a better choice than Corker ever imagined being. However, Ford has a bad habit of sticking his finger in the air to judge which way the wind is blowing - and he always, without fail, sides with Republicans if its a tight issue.

I watched a lot of dedicated and intelligent minds leave that campaign because the mandates that kept coming from Ford's inner circle were keen on stressing "we have to appeal to Republicans! they will vote for us!". This really kicked into high gear in early October when Ford went from being a centrist candidate to almost a mirror image of Corker on the issues. I almost walked away from the campaign at that point but I chose to stick it out even with the ominous polling numbers starting to come in. Our efforts were stifled at every opportunity as far as reaching our base (according to some, our base would "automatically" show up, so we had to reach Republicans and that meant acting like Republicans, which I refused to lower myself to that point) On election day, I couldn't even begin to tell you how many people I personally talked to that told me, "well, I would have voted for Ford, but I generally vote Republican and I don't see much difference between the two." Even independents echoed the same call - saying that Ford just didn't seem genuine. Others said that all they got from Ford is that he wanted a new job as a Senator. In other words, Harold looking out for Harold.

Ford is a media darling and a great speaker - but be very weary of him. His allegiances are nowhere near where our values lie.

[KoKo]

31. Thanks for sharing that "insider view."

Ford was on Imus this morning on MSNBC carrying on about Jesus and how he thanked Jesus for his DLC job after losing the Senate. He was blathering on about DLC leadership standing for American values...thanking Will Marshall and David From and Imus asked him if he thought "he had been chosen for DLC to keep him from helping his buddy Obama win the Presidency." Ford laughed at that..and just kept going on about how exiciting it was that he had been chosen and how the DLC was responsible for all the "Progressive Ideas" that the "Democrat" party had stood for since it's founding. :eyes: I was having some trouble keeping from spewing my coffee over "Progressive Ideas" from the DLC and that he said "Democrat Party."

[TornadoTN]

32. Quite welcome!

I have such a hard time dealing with Harold Ford, Jr. now after my first hand expierence. I can't stress enough just how much Ford is a master manipulator but once you start listening to him over time you see just how weak of a candidate/leader he truly is. Ford stands for everything and nothing at the same time, if I may be so bold.

Part of me was glad to see him lose in our state, but the better sense in me felt bad because we are now stuck with Corker for six years. Let me be very clear, this DLC deal has been in the cards for Ford for some time. Now that he runs the show, we can expect to see more of what I expierenced on the ground here in Tennessee across the entire country.

The Democratic Party just lost a lot of its momentum and its identity today. Look for the agenda to become very moderated and toned down over the next two years.

[KoKo]

49. I think DLC's influence is waning though....

As long as we can keep Dean in the DNC and work on the continued strengthening of our State Parties...hopefully whatever he does at the DLC will only be thought of as "Think Tank" work.

Who knows...but that's my hope.

[Individualist]

46. Harold Voted for Torture Ford is not a great guy

[TornadoTN]

50. Oh, believe me, I know his record

Perhaps I should have chosen my words a little more carefully, as his vote for torture was the beginning of his downfall in the race. As far as him being "great", he's a very personable and likable guy when he's just being himself and staying outside of politics.

[peacetalksforall]

23. Isn't it interesting - DLC and DLCers. Lacking insider knowledge,

I formed the opinion that the only people who seemed to get invited to right wing corporate so-called news and talk shows were DLC activists and DLC candidates. Well, we know that Leiberman and Ford were given right wing approval - Hannity, Imus, Sunday mornings - we would see Ford. So, it's no surprise to me that he's the head of the DLC.

[ieoeja]

30. DLC now headed by an African-American.

You know they did this thinking it would make the DLC okay with all us Liberals. Or because they expect Blacks in this country to automatically fall in line with the DLC as a result.

[Zodiak]

36. Yup....cuz we liberals are racists

who only respond to a person's skin color. How patronizing can the DLC get?

[Cascadian]

48. This is all a ploy.

This is a ploy to try to make the DLC agenda more palatable to the public and try to ram it through the Democratic Convention. This way, Hillary will become the nominee and with a little encouragement, Hillary will choose Barack Obama as a running mate. This will appease those DLC nay-sayers but will this mean a Democratic victory in '08? No. Because they always follow a losing strategy. I guess it takes somebody who has lost an election like Harold Ford to lead a loser organization like the DLC.


John

[JCMach1]

38. now there's a shocker

[lies and propaganda]

45. CNN: Tara throws up

:puke:

[Cascadian]

47. The DLC are Moderate Republicans.

Let's just call them for what they really are. Since the true moderate Republicans no longer really exist, these DLCer are just trying to shore up that end of the political spectrum and they want the rest of the party to move along with them. They are a compenent to blur the lines between the two parties. They will claim there are differences between them and the Republicans but the reality is this. They both their corporate masters and would bend over backwards for them just to get more millions of dollars.

From a standpoint of a political science major or a political analysist, there are some little differences but ask the Average Joe Voter and most of them will tell there is no difference between Democrats and Republicans. The DLCers don't seem to get this.



John

[TornadoTN]

51. Precisely - there is no difference

Between the DLC and the mythical "moderate" Republicans. Like I posted elsewhere in the thread, this reaction was widespread throughout the race in every corner of the state. Even in typically G.O.P. dominated Eastern Tennessee, a lot of people told us that they just didn't feel there was any difference between the two candidates, likening it to the "Devil You Know" rationale in choosing candidates. I don't believe anyone from either side were particularly enamored with their candidates this time around in the state, but the G.O.P. through all of their missteps this last election cycle, pushed a "moderate" candidate into the election because they knew Ford would be weak against someone who shared most every single policy position. This was their one bright spot last election.