The following was posted in reply to a post of mine. It cut to the quick, I think, of a lot of the problems folks here tend to have with the DLC: And more importantly, it was thoughtful enough to challenge me, and get me to pinpoint the reasons why despite all the bashing here, I really do identify with the DLC at my core. My response is below the fold.
MRM4967 wrote:
Progressive have gotten a little tired of the DLC telling us to get out of their way. Or warning us of the "threat" posed by Howard Dean's existence. Or the DLC telling progressives they are no longer viable candidates. Or all of the above as in
http://www.ndol.org/ndol_ci.cfm?kaid=127&subid=900056&contentid=25169
My complaint about the DLC is that they don't look for solutions they look for compromises. Sure they have all sorts of proposals, but precious few look like actual leadership just pandering to the near right, with the expectation that the left will thank them for being grown-ups and saving us from having to take a stand. When in reality they're just trying to avoid being called the dreaded L word.
I disagree in part because it grates me too, when the DLC proposes policies that seem more like 'compromise' than 'leadership'. The problem is, I see that not as pandering to the right, but as pandering to the extremist fringes of the Dems; they get attacked so much that they've been cowed into defensiveness and submission by the dominant, more-to-the-left faction of our own party.
I admit, the "We're the adults in the room" shtick from the DLC is not good. But you know what? Comparatively, sometimes they are. When Louise Slaughter posts a diary here using the incindiary language of the GOP "Raping" ethics rules, or in general all the hyperbole that gets tossed around on this board...
...See, that's the thing. I really, really, really, really have a chip on my shoulder about hyperbole. Because it's the one thing that serves no useful purpose that we do just because to our base, it "feels good", and it's the single biggest thing keeping swing voters from taking us seriously.
I want swing voters to come on our side voting FOR what we believe in. Not just voting AGAINST the Republicans because they can't stomach the corruption and the pandering to fundamentalists.
Last election, out of Bush's support, way more of his support was genuine. Way more of our support was the "I'd vote for a Ham Sandwich over George Bush" crowd. The people we're already going to get anyways. There's room for growth in that crowd, sure, but what's more important is to grow the ranks of relatively nonaligned voters who will feel good about voting for a Democrat, not like they're picking the lesser of two evils.
And you know what? The biggest, most fundamental thing we can do in that regard is to drop the Hyperbole Wing of the Democratic party, or at least give them a firm spanking. Bush is a genuinely bad president. He's not Hitler. I'm frankly not so sure he's the worst president in history -- we've had a hell of a lot of presidents. I don't think he's done anything impeachable. I don't think he's engaged in some corrupt scheme to sell out the country for Oil/Likudniks/The Bildeberger Group/The Illuminati/World Imperialism. I do, however, take very serious issue with quite a few of his policies.
I think in that sentiment, I'm in the majority -- Both of the Democratic party, and of Americans.
And nothing turns me off more, makes me more sympathetic to people I really shouldn't be sympathetic to, than seeing some protester with wannabe hippy-kids who couldn't bother to dress cleanly knowing they'd be on TV waving a "No Blood For Oil, ChimpyMcHitler and Amerikkka" sign.
I'm not the only one. And I'm not an old fuddy-duddy. I'm 19 years old. It's my generation that tends the same way. I'm from one of the least extremist, most wired-in, most centrist generations on record. And I don't like to be alienated by a faction of my own side that gets all the press time and spends 80% of it making us look like we can't be trusted.
The DLC, for all their faults, for all the things that just make me want to smack my head against the wall and say "How could you possibly think that would work?!"...
...For all of that, sometimes they're the ones portraying themselves as the grownups in the room. And that may not be all that counts, but when it comes to building a party that works, that's where you start.
Thanks for your time, and I hope you find it interesting and worth commenting on. I appreciate your respectful thoughts, disagreements, diatribes, and whatnot. :)
I also encourage you to check out the two DLC-affiliated blogs, at www.NewDonkey.com and www.BullMooseBlog.com. They're both excellent, and worth your time, even if you may not always agree with them.