Democratic Leadership Council

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The Democratic Leadership Council is a non-profit corporation[1] that argues that the United States Democratic Party should shift away from traditionally populist positions. Moderate and conservative Democratic party leaders founded the DLC in response to the landslide victory of Republican candidate Ronald Reagan over Democratic candidate Walter Mondale during the 1984 Presidential election. The founders believed the United States Democratic Party needed to shift to the right of center to remain viable during the Reagan era. The DLC hails President Clinton as proof of the viability of third way politicians and as a DLC success story. Critics contend that the DLC is effectively a powerful, corporate-financed mouthpiece within the Democratic party that acts to keep Democratic Party candidates and platforms sympathetic to corporate interests and the interests of the wealthy.

The DLC's affiliated think tank is the Progressive Policy Institute. Democrats who adhere to the DLC's philosophy often call themselves New Democrats.

The DLC's current chairman is former Representative Harold Ford, Jr. of Tennessee, and its vice chair is Senator Thomas R. Carper of Delaware. Its CEO is Al From and its president is Bruce Reed.

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[edit] Founding and early history

The DLC was founded in 1985 by Al From and other Democrats after Ronald Reagan's re-election. The DLC interpreted the election of Reagan as a signal that progressive politics needed to be 'modernized' to remain viable. They felt the Great Society philosophy that had dominated the Democratic party since the Johnson administration had run its course and advocated "new thinking" incorporating free-market principles. The group advocated economic policies, such as decreased government regulation of big business and trade agreements that often conflicted with the views of traditional Democratic constituencies, especially labor unions. The organization started as a group of forty-three elected officials, and two staffers, Al From and Will Marshall. Their original focus was on influencing internal Democratic politics so as to secure the 1988 presidential nomination for a Southern conservative such as Sam Nunn or Chuck Robb, both of whom were early DLC supporters. However, when the DLC's pet project, the Super Tuesday primary, turned out to be a boon for Reverend Jesse Jackson, a vocal critic of the DLC, the group began to shift toward attempting to influence the public debate.

In 1989, Marshall founded the Progressive Policy Institute, a think tank which has since turned out policy blueprints for the DLC. Its most extensive series of papers is the series of New Economy Policy Reports.

The DLC's biggest success came in 1992 when two founding members of the group, Bill Clinton and Al Gore, were elected President and Vice-President of The United States.

[edit] Positions

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It is the opinion of the DLC that populism is not politically viable, citing the defeated Presidential campaigns of Senator George McGovern in 1972 and Vice-President Walter Mondale in 1984. The DLC states that it “seeks to define and galvanize popular support for a new public philosophy built on progressive ideals, mainstream values, and innovative, non-bureaucratic, market-based solutions." [2]

The DLC has supported welfare reform, such as the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 [3], President Clinton's expansion of the Earned Income Tax Credit [4], and the creation of AmeriCorps [5]. The DLC supports expanded health insurance via tax credits for the uninsured and opposes plans for single-payer universal health care. The DLC supports universal access to preschool, charter schools, and measures to allow a greater degree of choice in schooling (though not school vouchers), and supports the No Child Left Behind Act. The DLC supports both NAFTA and CAFTA.

The DLC often criticized the policies of President George W. Bush, but much of the criticism is seen as measured and nuanced. The DLC opposed the partial birth abortion ban, the expiration of the 1994 ban on semi-automatic firearms, the Clear Skies Initiative, and what they perceived as a lack of funding of the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) program. In 2001 the DLC endorsed the idea of tax cuts for the middle class, but then opposed the tax cuts favored by Bush, which they said favored the wealthy. The organization supports some forms of Social Security privatization but opposes financing private retirement accounts with large amounts of borrowed money.

Recently, the DLC also urged Senate Democrats to vote against Bush's nomination of Samuel Alito to the U.S. Supreme Court "on principle", but firmly opposed any filibuster of the nominee.[6]

[edit] 2003 invasion of Iraq

The DLC gave strong support for the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Prior to the war, Will Marshall co-signed a letter to President Bush from the Project for the New American Century endorsing military action against Saddam Hussein. During the 2004 Primary campaign the DLC attacked Presidential candidate Howard Dean as an out-of-touch liberal because of Dean's position of only pursuing Osama Bin Laden instead of invading Iraq. The DLC dismissed other critics of the Iraq invasion such as filmmaker Michael Moore as "Anti-American" and members of the "loony left" [7]. Even as domestic support for the Iraq War plummeted in 2004 and 2005, Marshall called upon Democrats to balance their criticism of Bush's handling of the Iraq War with praise for the President's achievements and cautioned "Democrats need to be choosier about the political company they keep, distancing themselves from the pacifist and anti-American fringe."

[edit] Criticism

The DLC has become unpopular within many progressive and far left political circles.

Some critics claim the strategy of triangulation between the political left and right to gain broad appeal is fundamentally flawed. Opponents believe that moderation does not inspire passion in voters and lacks the persistent principles and moral clarity which are critical to building a popular political movement. In the long run, so opponents say, a strategy of triangulation results in concession after concession to the opposition, while alienating traditionally-allied voters.

Others contend that the DLC's distaste for what they refer to as "economic class warfare" has allowed the language of populism to be monopolized by the right-wing. Many argue that the Democrats' abandonment of populism to the right-wing, shifting the form of that populism from the economic realm to the "culture wars", has been critical for Republican dominance of Middle America. (See, for instance, Thomas Frank's What's the Matter with Kansas.)

Still other critics believe the DLC has essentially become an influential corporate and right-wing implant in the Democratic party. Marshall Wittmann, a former senior fellow at the DLC and the former legislative director for the Christian Coalition, and Will Marshall, a vocal supporter of the war in Iraq, are among those associated with the DLC who have been accused of having right-wing credentials.

Finally, detractors of the DLC note that the DLC has received funding from the right-wing Bradley Foundation as well as from oil companies, military contractors, and various Fortune 500 companies.

[edit] 2004 Presidential Primary

In May 2003, as the Democratic primary of the 2004 presidential campaign was starting to pick up, the organization voiced concern that the Democratic contenders might be taking positions too far left of the mainstream general electorate. Early front-runner Howard Dean, who attracted popular support due in large part to his anti-war views despite his reputation as a centrist governor of Vermont, was specifically criticized by DLC founder and CEO Al From. From's criticism of Dean was also likely due to the former governor's opposition to the war in Iraq, which most party centrists, including From, endorsed. Dean's claim to hail "from the Democratic wing of the Democratic Party" (a phrase originally used by Senator Paul Wellstone of Minnesota) has been interpreted by some as subtle criticism of the DLC and the New Democrats in general. Indeed, Dean once described the DLC as the "Republican wing of the Democratic Party." [8] The DLC countered that Dean represented the "McGovern-Mondale wing" of the Democratic Party, "defined principally by weakness abroad and elitist, interest-group liberalism at home."

Senator John Kerry won the democratic primary and chose primary contender Senator John Edwards as his running mate. Both Senators are members of the Senate New Democratic Caucus, and the DLC anticipated that they would win the general election. In a March 3, 2004 dispatch, they suggested voters would appreciate Kerry's centrist viewpoints, imagining voters to say "If this is a waffle, bring on the syrup."[9]

[edit] Former chairs

[edit] Sources

[edit] External links

[edit] Critics

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