David Sirota
writes:
Looking out over Washington, DC, from his plush office, Al From is once again foaming at the mouth. The CEO of the corporate-sponsored Democratic Leadership Council and his wealthy cronies are in their regular postelection attack mode. Despite wins by economic populists in red states like Colorado and Montana this year, the DLC is claiming like a broken record that progressive policies are hurting the Democratic Party.
From's group is funded by huge contributions from multinationals like Philip Morris, Texaco, Enron and Merck, which have all, at one point or another, slathered the DLC with cash. Those resources have been used to push a nakedly corporate agenda under the guise of "centrism" while allowing the DLC to parrot GOP criticism of populist Democrats as far-left extremists. Worse, the mainstream media follow suit, characterizing progressive positions on everything from trade to healthcare to taxes as ultra-liberal. As the AP recently claimed, "party liberals argue that the party must energize its base by moving to the left" while "the DLC and other centrist groups argue that the party must court moderates and find a way to compete in the Midwest and South."
Is this really true? Is a corporate agenda really "centrism"? Or is it only "centrist" among Washington's media elite, influence peddlers and out-of-touch political class?
I like Sirota's debunking of the DLC ideological arguments, but he seems to be falling for the canard that the battle for the chairmanship is based on ideology.
He claims Simon Rosenberg is part of a DLC plot to set "centrism in stone". Nevermind that Rosenberg and the DLC hate each other, precisely because Simon has avoided ideological orthodoxy and embraced the grassroots innovations popularized by the Dean campaign.
If Sirota needed evidence of a DLC plot to take over the DNC, he could've taken aim at former Michigan governor James Blanchard -- the latest version of "anti-Dean" peddled by Kerry, Pelosi and Reid. Blanchard has long since left his native Michigan in favor of his K Street office lobbying on behalf of oil and energy interests (he should release his client list if he wants to run the party). When asked why he was running by the Detroit News, his inspiring answer: "I am preliminarily exploring it because I've had a lot of encouragement."
Sounds like a DLC winner right? Yup. A "DLC stalwarth" in fact, according to the DLC itself.
I'm tired of people painting the contest for the DNC chairmanship as one between "liberals" and "centrists". That's the battle the DLC wants to fight, and it's the battle the media wants to see fought. Perhaps it's a battle that Sirota (who I am quite fond of) wants to fight.
But that's not where we're at. It's reform versus status quo.