A while back, on an email exchange with the DLC's Ed Kilgore, Ed complained to me that while the DLC did a lot of GOP bashing, the only time the press paid attention was when they attacked fellow Democrats. There was a refrain of
that complaint in the recent Nation piece on that organization.
After Kerry's defeat, the DLC promised to "avoid the circular firing squad" mentality but then quickly broke the promise, reverting to its favorite target: the Democratic base. Instead of labor unions and feminists, the DLC fixated on MoveOn.org and Michael Moore. "We need to be the party of Harry Truman and John Kennedy, not Michael Moore," the DLC wrote on the Wall Street Journal op-ed page, of all places. "What leftist elites smugly imagine is a sophisticated view of their country's flaws strikes much of America as a false and malicious cartoon," the DLC's Will Marshall wrote in Blueprint, the group's magazine, in a rant worthy of The Weekly Standard. "Democrats should have no truck with the rancid anti-Americanism of the conspiracy-mongering left." The DLC continued this vitriol into March.
Such attacks put the DLC back on the front page--a fact that speaks to one of its ongoing sources of strength. For Washington journalists, the DLC is an ideal organization, frequently critical and readily accessible. Privately, DLC staffers complain that only controversy will bring coverage.
Lieberman shares this with the DLC -- no one wants them to come aboard to talk about issues. Lieberman and the DLC are the designated "Democrat-bashers" for Fox News and the rest of the media world. They have so consistently delivered, for so long, that they are the first to be called on when a reporter is looking for that conflict in his or her story. Writing about MoveOn or Michael Moore? Call the DLC! They'll provide the "Democrats" are divided quote. Need to bash Democrats on any particular issue? Call Joe Lieberman! He has no concept of party loyalty and will happily blaze away.
The DLCers like to pretend that it's all a big ideological witch hunt, with us big, bad bloggers going after Lieberman because he's not looney left (or something like that). But notice how Reid escapes the vitriol. Stephanie Herseth may not vote with Democrats 100 percent of the time, but when was the last time you saw her bash her own party? Ben Nelson, the Democrats' most wayward member when it comes time to vote, spent an entire hour on Russert's Meet The Press last Sunday, and didn't bash Democrats once.
Some Democrats live in tough places, and must stray from party orthodoxy to survive. Others stray from the party based on genuine differences of opinion. That's fine and a political reality we should be able to deal with. What is out of bounds is the propensity of Lieberman (and only Lieberman) to hit the talk show circuit for the express purpose of criticizing his fellow Democrats.
Just as it is out of bounds for the DLC -- at a time when the left is more unified than ever -- to demand the party purge millions of supporters from its ranks.
I assume the DLC's Marshall Wittmann isn't a dense idiot, he just plays one on TV his blog, since he refuses to see this point. Yesterday, he took to berating bloggers for targetting Lieberman, which he had just praised for voting against the bankruptcy bill. Of course, in a craven act of political caculus like no other, Lieberman voted for cloture -- the one vote that could've derailed the legislation. Lieberman protected the legislation when it matter, then voted against it when it didn't matter.
But Wittmann (a former Christian Coalition staffer) celebrates such political dishonesty, pretending that his hero is getting blasted for his ideology, rather than for his anti-Democratic behavior. But it's no coincidence that the DLC is in the same boat -- attacked for its anti-Democratic behavior even as it pretends to be persecuted for its ideology.
They are two sides of the same coin -- the media's handy tool for Democratic bashing. Enemies of unity of the left. Self-important fools who existmerely to advance the other side's agenda.
