The following is an excerpt from Left Out!, by Joshua Frank. I think it is required reading for all progressive Democrats who want to transform the Democratic Party. It's just been released by Common Courage Press, and you can order a copy at
BrickBurner.org
I just finished reading it, and I have to say, without a questiont that this is the best analysis of election 2004 out there, as well as the best template for transforming the Dems. It makes Lankoff's argument seem mute. There is so much more that needs to be done than simply changing our rhetoric. Read for yourself.
Posted at
CounterPunch
The DNC Hated the Deaniacs, But Wanted Their Money
How Beltway Democrats Sank Dean for America
By JOSHUA FRANK
Evidently, Howard Dean's movement scared the money-hungry Democrats right out of their thousand-dollar suits. McAuliffe, Reed, Kerry, Gephardt, and the Clintons were terrified of what he could do to the party they worked so hard to build during the 1990s. It didn't matter that Dean was ideologically aligned with these centrist Democrats -- his grassroots cash was a genuine threat to party brass.
As DLC leaders Reed and From commented in another memo on Kerry's and John Edwards' successful campaigns in Iowa, "Two months ago, when former Gov. Howard Dean's campaign appeared to be running away with the Iowa caucuses, Sens. John Kerry and John Edwards spoke to the Iowa Jefferson-Jackson Day Dinner and made the same prophetic point: Democrats need to offer answers, not just anger."
"Now the Democratic wing of the Democratic Party has spoken: Iowa was a landslide victory for hope over [Howard Dean] anger. The word 'stunning' hardly does service to the performance of Kerry and Edwards in Iowa. Up against all of Howard Dean's endorsements and organization, Kerry and Edwards each won more delegate shares (the arcane measurement used to judge success in Iowa) than Dean and Rep. Dick Gephardt combined. Kerry's victory and Edwards' strong second weren't just stirring comebacks for those two campaigns. They represent an inspiring comeback for the Democratic Party.
"Iowa was also a triumph for a Democrat who wasn't on the ballot: the original Comeback Kid, Bill Clinton," they boasted. "The Dean campaign has done everything it can to run away from Clintonism, even calling the historic progress under Clinton nothing more than 'damage control.' By contrast, Kerry and Edwards followed the Clinton playbook ... While Dean defined himself as everything Bush is not, Kerry and Edwards set their own course for the country. They supported the war against Saddam Hussein and ... they also pledged muscular internationalism to unite the world against terror, a return to fiscal discipline and Clintonomics, bold plans to expand opportunity for the forgotten middle class.
"Indeed, the Iowa results represent a vindication for the Blair Democrats who supported the war in Iraq. Even Democrats with serious doubts about Iraq want America to succeed there, and want a nominee who can pass the test as Commander-in-Chief."
Al Gore and later Bill Bradley grasped their chances of taking on the Clinton-controlled DLC to which they once belonged, hoping to turn power over to the new iconic liberalism represented by the pro-Dean movement. To reassert the centrality of the party line, David Jones was brought on, albeit at a comfortable distance from the Kerry and Gephardt camps, to crush Dean's rebellious candidacy.
Read the rest HERE!