Almost lost in Bill Kristol's attack on me for not being "respectable" 3-4 years ago (I was right about Iraq, hence not respectable), was this little nugget:
Not a single one is going to the Democratic Leadership Council meeting in a couple of weeks.
The Memphis Flyer has pounced on this little bit of info:
No contenders? Uh oh. Is this a problem for the DLC's head, former congressman Harold Ford Jr., who was elected to lead the organization earlier this year to give it more relevance and political panache?
This is how the event referred to by Kristol, "the DLC National Conversation," scheduled for next Saturday, July 28th, is billed on the organization's own Web site: "This summer in Nashville, hundreds of rising political stars from every corner of America will gather at the DLC's most important annual event -- and the next stop on DLC Chair Harold Ford's Ideas Primary tour -- to hear from leading national voices and to discuss the ideas that will shape the country's future."
And, to be sure, no active candidates for the presidency are listed at this point as among the "leading national voices" scheduled to attend so as to help "shape the country's future."
In fact, the only federal elected officials outside of the state of Tennessee (where the event is taking place) that are attending are Sen. Tom Carper of Delaware and Rep. Greg Meeks of NY. Even Hillary Clinton, who is supposedly on the DLC's executive leadership team, appears to be passing on it.
Whatever it is they're having at the event, it sure as heck ain't a "national conversation". More of a "cocktail party" for Liebercrats.
Corporatist Dems have all but abandoned the DLC, but don't celebrate too hard. The DLC may be all but dead, but their former Liebercrat patrons seem to be shifting over to the pretend-"centrist" group Third Way. They won't go away this easily...