The Democrats' brewing civil war

[ChrisNYC]

Deans, Greens and liberals say the party needs to scream the anti-Bush truth at the American people. New-Democratic centrists say Americans just aren't that left-leaning. The schism is wide, and it's going to get wider.

(snip)

The DLC's message, meanwhile, is more than just Republican lite, despite the claims of its detractors. It supported the Iraq war, but opposes Bush's broader unilateralism and policy of preemption. It champions universal healthcare and excoriates Bush's economic policies. Yet it's extremely wary of demonizing Bush. "It is important to understand that a majority of the American people do not and will not share the sort of reflexive belief that the president and his administration are stupid or evil," says Ed Kilgore, policy director of the DLC. "I happen to think centrist Democrats and 'liberals' do share the same basic values and a lot of the same basic policy goals. Where we tend to disagree is on means."

(snip)

"Every two years at election time, the party goes through an agony of self-reflection and recently self-reproach," says Robert Reich, a prominent progressive who served as Clinton's secretary of labor. "They ask: Should we move right and get more of the so-called suburban swing voter or should we have the courage of our progressive convictions and generate more enthusiasm among the base? What's left out of the debate is an acknowledgment that half of adult Americans who are qualified to vote no longer do so. The only way to get them into the voting booths is to give them something to vote for, a real choice, real ideals and a strong and bold vision of where the country is and where it should be going."

http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2003/07/12/democrats/index.html

[JohnKleeb]

1. republicans have been brewing civil war with how they treated Clinton

so

[nuxvomica]

2. Good article. I agree with the Robert Reich camp

I think Democrats have got to offer a choice and they've got to go after Bush hard. They don't need to demonize him, just show him for the dangerously incompetent tool that he is.

[ilpostino]

3. Orange alert

Excellent article...and if we go into the general election severely divided, we can't say we weren't warned.

[LiberalLibra]

4. What would be wrong with yelling this from the roof tops WHILE......

...adhering to Clinton style economics???? That, I think would heal the Democratic party and also bring some of those so called "Reagan Democrats back.

[realFedUp]

5. Not knowing who the candidate will be is a good thing

So many complain that the party leadership chooses
a candidate months or even a year or so ahead of the
election. It's good to have real dialog and selection by
the people, even if it's messy.

[tokenlib]

6. To our good friends in the DLC....

Bring it on!! Let's go out into the political back yard, put on the boxing gloves, and have it out.

Hopefully the caucuses and primaries will settle this and enable us to have enough unity to defeat Bush. But if we yield to those who seek unity to defeat Bush without dealing with this schism--then Bush wins. We cannot fight Bush with what I believe to be the majority of the grassroots activists and party base--discouraged, disenchanted, taken for granted, and drowning in lukewarm centrist swill.