Ron Brownstein picks up the intellectual battles being fought within the Dem Party:
The truce appears to be expiring among Democrats in Washington.
In the immediate aftermath of Sen. John F. Kerry's loss to President Bush in November, Democrats notably avoided the postelection squabbling that's consumed the party after almost all recent presidential races -- even those it won. But as the new year begins, a series of high-profile articles in leading liberal journals is suddenly reopening old divisions.
On one front, a liberal operative [Sirota he's talking about] at a top think tank has accused the Democratic Leadership Council, the principal organization of party centrists, of pushing the party toward a pro-corporate agenda "that sells out America's working class -- the demographic that used to be the party's base."
In equally combative terms, a leading young centrist commentator [Beinart he's talking about] published a manifesto in the New Republic magazine accusing the Democratic left of slighting the struggle against Islamic terrorism and undermining the party's image on security -- an argument instantly embraced and promoted by the Democratic Leadership Council. "There is a big fight about the direction of the Democratic Party still going on, and these are big documents in that fight," says Robert Borosage, co-director of the liberal Campaign for America's Future.
Brownstein seems way off on this next part:
Democrats have now moved back to the barricades, at least in their intellectual circles. The lines of battle evident in these disputes also could resurface in the race for the DNC chairmanship, which will pit liberals Dean and party operative Harold M. Ickes against centrists such as former Indiana Rep. Tim Roemer and Simon Rosenberg, president of the centrist New Democrat Network.
Kos is sure to have a lot to say about this. But my first take is Brownstein seems to be more than a bit out of touch frankly. Beinart has been roundly condemned as has the DLC, which started the wars. Whatever happens, the DLC, or at least Al From, have lost a lot already. As has Beinart.
But we eagerly await kos' take on all this. Just thought I'd give us a head start on bashing the DLC.
Thanks to Kossack cali for the heads up.