Death to the DLC

There are at least two points I disagree with in this post. First, Stephen Suh condemns the Democrats for their DLC-advocated move to the center (aka right). Before he makes this point he criticizes them for running away from Bill Clinton. However, last I heard, Bill Clinton was the poster boy of the DLC. The DLC, for those of you that aren't familiar with it, is the Democratic Leadership Council. They frequently advocate for the Democrats to embrace the business wing of the party and move towards the center. Bill Clinton's strategy of triangulation was a move to the center. Don't get me wrong I think Bill Clinton was a great president but he certainly wasn't a liberal. Running away from the labor movement and insisting on welfare reform seems to be exactly the type of thing that the GOP could embrace, and they did, while Clinton was in office. Therefore, Mr. Suh is contradicting himself when he argues that the party should not run away from Bill Clinton and should embrace thier progressive roots. Personally, I don't think you can do both. If you want to be another Bill Clinton, you have to embrace the center and distance yourself from the base.

The other point I disagree with is Suh's suggestion that Barack Obama is running away from the Democratic party:

And Obama has already begun running away from Clinton and away from the Democratic party. This kind of thing, once started, won't stop here. Hillary and Obama are tied, and the gloves are going to come off - even Mr. Nice-and-Civil is going to get rougher as time goes on. This kind of thing also cannot be undone. We can't make this rhetoric, these flyers, go away during the general election. Every time Obama makes this campaign a referendum about Bill Clinton's presidency and/or personal characteristics, he's playing along with the GOP's favorite strategy.

And he will lose in November - to McCain, to Romney, to Huckabee or to a handkerchief with George Bush's morning noseblow on it. Because those Americans who don't live in DC, who aren't addicted to political coverage and who don't attend Georgetown cocktail parties want a choice - a real choice, not one between McCain's crazy brand of Republicanism vs. Obama's more genteel and civil brand of Republicanism-lite.

Stephen should've read this fantastic article by Ezra Klein. Both Obama and Clinton have embraced the progressive cause. They have both utilize rhetoric that has sung the praises of positive government action. Barack Obama is not running away from the Democratic party, and neither is Hillary Clinton. Both candidates are far more liberal than Bill Clinton. Democrats should be excited that their nominee, whether it's Obama or Clinton, will be a standard bearer for the progressive movement.