Buh bye.
The Democratic Leadership Council — a group of centrists that dominated politics during the Clinton presidency but is laboring to remain relevant in the Obama era — is on the brink of a major shake-up.
Al From, the DLC’s founder and leader since its creation 24 years ago this month, said he plans to step down within the next couple of months, handing the chief executive reins to his longtime protégé, Bruce Reed.
At the same time, the Progressive Policy Institute, an influential think tank closely affiliated with the DLC, will soon part ways with the council. Will Marshall, who heads the think tank, said the recent Democratic electoral gains and a massive new agenda being pushed by the Obama administration “require us to think anew.”
The article eulogizes From, despite the fact he's still alive. Kind of funny, actually. But in short, the spin is that the DLC is (effectively) dead because it won! Whatever makes them feel better.
So what to make of DLC Chair Harold Ford, curiously absent from this write-up? In the last three years, he has run for senate and lost, worked for Merril Lynch in time to watch them collapse, and headed the DLC in time to watch them collapse -- the kind of success ratio that often merits a big promotion in DC.