DLC hails Bill Bradbury (Dean campaign chair)

Hmmm...I keep hearing a few folks here say that the DLC wants to banish Dean supporters, and that it has no interest in making sure every vote is counted.

Well, it looks like the latest New Democrat of the Week contradicts these claims. The DLC is spotlighting Oregon Secretary of State Bill Bradbury, who had served as a state co-chair of the Dean campaign:

"As it grows evermore important for Democrats nationwide to embrace the mantle of reform, taking real steps toward mending our broken political system should be a top priority. And, as Bradbury has shown, championing election reform means establishing a uniform, accurate, fair, and transparent system for how Americans register, vote, and have their votes counted".

http://www.ndol.org/ndol_ci.cfm?contentid=253099&subid=116&kaid=104

He made Kerry look like a flaming liberal.

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in deciding whether one is liberal or conservative. Pat Buchanan also opposed the war and he is hardly a liberal

You used it as evidence that Kerry was not a liberal and I called you on that litmus test that is very often applied

There's no part of Kerry that you could consider flaming.

Where do you get your information? Dean has NEVER been a beltway insider. You have obviously got NO CLUE who he is.

I think he was DLC when he was governor. He is definitely no insider, though, and he does NOT hold them in the reverence they expect. That is why I like him.

DLC features Dean's State of the State address on NDOL:
http://www.ndol.org/ndol_ci.cfm?contentid=250152&kaid=104&subid=116

DLC praises the Dean/Shaheen/King drug purchasing plan:
http://www.ndol.org/ndol_ci.cfm?contentid=2421&kaid=131&subid=207

DLC cheers Dean's re-election in 1996:
http://www.ndol.org/ndol_ci.cfm?contentid=2535&kaid=127&subid=173

Another State of the State address:
http://www.ndol.org/ndol_ci.cfm?kaid=104&subid=116&contentid=250152

No, Dean wasn't as involved in the DLC as, say, Mark Warner, Kathleen Sebelius or Janet Napolitano. Still, he was a centrist governor very much in the New Democrat mold.

much of the membership. Witness your post just now, a veiled attack on his credentials as a potential reform type person.

sorry to burst your bubble.

The better question is, who's in the DLC today?

Dean would still be in the DLC if he held elected position. They'd love to have one of their own (particularly one that doesn't appear to be on of their own) in chargge of the DNC

He may hold a view or so of theirs now, but here we go with the childish stuff again.

Dean Statement in Response to DLC's Charge that Public Servants are "Fringe Activists"

“Once again, the DLC has chosen to put their own political agenda ahead of the progress needed to unite the Democratic Party. This election has barely begun, and the DLC has repeatedly dismissed people who attend caucuses, who get out the vote, and now the 1.3 million members of AFSCME as ‘fringe activists’ who do not reflect ‘the mainstream values, national pride and the economic aspirations of middle-class and working people.’

“The DLC staff can say what they want about me, but they owe an apology to the 1.3 million members of AFSCME. Our teachers, our health care workers, and our state and local public servants don't need a lesson from Washington insiders about the needs and concerns of middle- and working-class families. What they need is a Democratic Party that will stand up for them.”

Posted by Mathew Gross at 04:27 PM
http://blog.deanforamerica.com/archives/000206.html

Tell From and Reed of the DLC What You Think
Click here to sign a letter to the Democratic Leadership Council telling them that you're an active Democrat who supports Howard Dean. You can tell your friends about the link, too: www.deanforamerica.com/DLC

Posted by Mathew Gross at 01:29 AM
http://blog.deanforamerica.com/archives/000240.html

Fineman on the DLC Memo
http://blog.deanforamerica.com/archives/000213.html

Former DNC-Chief Steve Grossman to DLC: "Creating Conflict is Not Leadership."
http://blog.deanforamerica.com/archives/000225.html

Liberal Oasis on Howard Dean and the DLC
http://blog.deanforamerica.com/archives/000226.html

Will the Real DLC Please Stand Up?
http://blog.deanforamerica.com/archives/000228.html

Congressional Members Call on DLC to Stop Divisive Tactics
http://blog.deanforamerica.com/archives/000238.html

Activists Are Out of Step
By Al From and Bruce Reed
http://www.ndol.org/ndol_ci.cfm?contentid=251866&kaid=85&subid=65

The Real Soul of the Democratic Party
By Al From and Bruce Reed
http://www.ndol.org/ndol_ci.cfm?contentid=251690&kaid=127&subid=900056

A bunch of links to the kerfuffle from over a year and a half ago. Way to change the subject...

As to the accusation that my post isn't on topic. It was a response to your statement: "DLC wants to banish Dean supporters"

Is there a statute of limitations for relevant discussion?

No, of course not.

The point I am trying to make is that the DLC has never been the tribe of ogres that some folks think it is. As others have pointed out, Dean's record (if not his rhetoric) is much, much closer to that of DLCers such as Mark Warner and Janet Napolitano than it is to bona-fide lefties like Dennis Kucinich and Bernie Sanders.

I think that the Bradbury article also shows that the DLC wing of the party is not as reluctant to address electoral issues as some of its opponents believe. By highlighting Bradbury's reforms, the DLC undoubtedly hopes to bring them to a larger audience of policymakers, and thereby see them enacted in other jurisdictions.

Never forget that DLCers are Democrats, too. There is a lot more common ground (fiscal responsibility, ethics reform, etc) than the DLC-haters would have you believe.

?

Because I happened to see it on the DLC web site tonight, actually.

My point is to show that the DLC is not some horrid, self-propelled Dixiecrat meatgrinder, out to dismember anyone in its path.

I am trying to show that while the DLC and Dean had their overblown exchange of insults in 2003, there is nonetheless a lot of common ground between New Dems and Deaniacs. The DLC can readily praise the good work of a moderate Dem who happened to be a Dean backer, without holding his endorsement against him like an Irishman's grudge.

Their pandering to the right has allowed the Iraq war...of which the DLC approved, the ending of the social programs....the huge tax cuts.

Don't kid me or yourself. Dean was one when he was governor. Gore was one of the founders, but persona non grata now.

Your post is almost childish in nature, like you are trying to get back at us for some reason.

Anytime anyone says something remotely positive about the DLC, a bunch of you keyboard kommandoes start yammering a bunch of mistruths. It's clear that you haven't been involved in the political process at a serious level, since you reduce everything to a set of erroneous talking points.

Oh, and by the way, the DLC never supported the Bush tax cuts or "the ending of social programs". Show me a scrap of evidence that they did, and I will send a donation to DFA forthwith.

Let's just say I know "real" when I see it. And Al From, Will Marshall, Bruce Reed, are so busy thinking of just the right damn word to say....they are not real at all.

Yes, they have supported the privatization of Social Security, and it was because of them we got screwed with that horrible Medicare bill.

I am way too old to be talked to like a kid...way to go to win converts to the New Dems.

The DLC didn't support the Medicare bill.

Maybe you heard about this from the same source who told you they supported the Bush tax cuts?

Yes, in the past, the DLC has been open to some form of private accounts as part of a larger overhaul of Social Security. They oppose the current Bush plan, preferring something along the lines of the "USA Accounts" (an add-on to the existing structure) proposed by Bill Clinton a while back.

They have been responsible for all these things happening, because they never took a stand against them.

We are in Iraq because they thought it was a good idea. They made fun of those of us who were anti-war. Go to the site and look up "Good night, Vietnam".

There is still time to change it a little.

You old fighting new dem, you. I don't know much about him, but he will get it most likely.

What made you start this tonight? Do you feel better now?

we work like hell to fix the damn voting machines - run a better campaign and MAYBE we get President Dean on Jan 20, 2009 after all - a man can dream.

"When you trade your values for the hope of winning, you end up losing and having no values....so you keep losing." Howard Dean 2004

:hi:

all over again. I kind of like that 5 degree in the sun and all that beautiful pure snow. It was a fun and great way to spend the weekend before my 50th birthday working for someone I believe would have and still would make one hell of a President.:hi:


"When you trade your values for the hope of winning, you end up losing and having no values....so you keep losing." Howard Dean 2004

I found an interesting old kos post that describes his split/differences with the DLC (from whence he sprang)

You might enjoy this-

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2004/5/24/1712/23448

If not DNC chair. Rosenberg is a good choice and could help put Dean forward. "The party needs them both", as I read on CFA tonight.

How so?

Bill Bradbury served as an Oregon co-chair for the Dean campaign.

The DLC is running a very positive piece on Bradbury, hailing his reforms in Oregon.

Ergo, the DLC is hailing Dean's campaign chair. What's the issue?

"DLC Hails Bill Bradbury," no one would read it.

I would give a pretty penny to know why you decided to start this tonight, the night when the Meet-up was so inspirational and growing. Then we come here to see this kind of stupid stuff.

You have no clue that most Dean supporters were not liberals, do you? We were just fed up with the nothingness of the party.

Why the Dean Putsch Failed.
http://www.ndol.org/ndol_ci.cfm?contentid=252472&kaid=127&subid=171

Dean Errs in Battling the New Democrats
http://www.ndol.org/ndol_ci.cfm?contentid=252283&kaid=85&subid=65

Ho Ho Ho
http://www.ndol.org/ndol_ci.cfm?contentid=252280&kaid=131&subid=192

The Real Soul of the Democratic Party.
http://www.ndol.org/ndol_ci.cfm?contentid=251690&kaid=127&subid=900056

First of all, I didn't know about the Meet-Up, so I apologize if this came across as somehow related to tonight's event. That was not my intent.

By and large, DLCers are not fans of the existing DNC hackocracy. A lot of us feel that the institutional party has been too constrained by old interest group politics to effectively develop a comprehensive and coherent agenda.

Let's put aside the Iraq vote and the 2003 From vs. Dean ego festival for a moment. Let's look at what the DLC has actually been pushing as its key issues in the last few years.

Greater public investment in helping workers obtain the skills, education and training to succeed in a post-industrial economy.

Reforming public education by assisting public charter schools, which provide parents with choices and innovation within a public school context, while opposing absurd and unworkable voucher schemes.

Using the tools of government to help emerging industries such as biotech and nanotech expand, prosper and create new jobs.

Putting the federal government back on a path of fiscal discipline.

These really aren't hot-button issues, but they are remarjably important. Further, they really aren't outside the mainstream of Democratic history, tradition or thought.

They are speaking from a corporate point of view. They have no clue what we the people are about. They needed the corporate money, and they pandered.

I doubt that most of the members really believe Al From's spew. But if they don't refute it, they are equally dangerous to our country.

Well, except the one that doesn't many ANY sense:

Greater public investment in helping workers obtain the skills, education and training to succeed in a post-industrial economy.

Such as? What does that even mean? I don't happen to think our workforce is particularly poorly educated or trained or lacking skills. Our biggest problem is that all the jobs going overseas, which I imagine the DLC fully supports -- but only in the name of progress, of course, for the businesses involved. Care to educate ME?

Reforming public education by assisting public charter schools, which provide parents with choices and innovation within a public school context, while opposing absurd and unworkable voucher schemes.

At least you got the voucher part right. But Charter schools are no better and another key Republican initiative which is a disgrace for ANY Democrat to support in any way. There should never be the slightest erosion of full support for free and expanded public education -- and anyone who aspires to call themselves any kind of Democrat, any kind of progressive at all, or even center needs to understand this.

Using the tools of government to help emerging industries such as biotech and nanotech expand, prosper and create new jobs.

I don't think so. Corporations have plenty of perks already -- all are heavily subsidized by taxpayers -- and don't seem to be having any trouble I'm aware of. Further, I'm sick of subsidizing corporations, only to see them ship their jobs overseas.

Putting the federal government back on a path of fiscal discipline.

I don't disagree with this at all, but then why is the DLC so anti-Howard Dean? And most Dems aren't at all opposed to this -- as Dean has said over and over again: you want fiscal responsibility, put a Dem in the White House.

These really aren't hot-button issues, but they are remarjably important. Further, they really aren't outside the mainstream of Democratic history, tradition or thought.

Some of them are.

But here's where you really go wrong, you and the DLC:

A lot of us feel that the institutional party has been too constrained by old interest group politics to effectively develop a comprehensive and coherent agenda.

We don't have a problem with a comprehensive and coherent agenda at all. We MIGHT have a problem articulating it well, and we MIGHT have a problem getting the media to cover it. But overwhelmingly, the population is in favor of all of our standard, traditional positions on the issues from spending to the environment to Medicare and Social Security and education, and so forth and so on. Our positions are so popular that the Repugs have to lie and make theirs SOUND like they're our kind of legislation (Clear Skies Initiative, et. al.).

BUt where you (and the DLC) REALLY get my shackles up are with the phrase, interest group politics. That's me, as a woman who cares about women's issues. That's minorities who care about racism. That's labor. That's the poor who've rarely had the ability to organize for themselves. That's environmentalists. The DLC is EAGER to rid itself of the base of the Democratic Party and indeed has gone out of its way on numerous occasions to insult and drive us away.

I have NO use for the DLC and no respect whatsoever for its apologists.

You're trying to make the DLC seem 'friendly' to Dean by praising someone that used to work with him.

The DLC doesn't want to 'banish Dean supporters'...they want to banish Dean. But I must admit...the DLC's propaganda and disinformation rivals that of the Bushies.

:hi:

This is so childish.

My fear is they get Dean in as chair or co-chair, demand he not run in 08, demand he commit for 4 full years....and then screw him by not wanting to change.

Our meetup chair told us tonight that Dr. Dean's traveling all over the country and meeting with the state party chairs (and he has some big fans in NY State). Well, worse comes to worse, he's made a lot of contacts for 2008. In fact, I wouldn't be at all disappointed if he wasn't DNC chair and just decided to run in 08.

...Bradbury was Dean's campaign chair. It seems the title of this thread was invented out of thin air.

You'd have to look very hard to even find this article without a direct link.

:hi:

I think he was just trying to reach out to others with differing views on this forum.

Is that what you meant?

I should have been more specific. I don't think
FightinNewDem meant to misguide anyone (though the title of this thread is a little misleading) I just think he was honestly trying to post something positive about the DLC and relate to those with differing views.

I do not deserve that, and most Dean supporters I know do not deserve it either.

We worked our butts for Kerry, donated to him, supported and ran local candidates.

I find it insulting to be called a Keyboard Kommando.

I don't like attacks like that either.

Reach out to progressives and the democratic base if they want our support. If someone from the DLC backed Dean for party chair and Dean was elected to party chair, that would go a long way in my view.

To be honest I'm tired of the bickering and nonsense in our party. The DLC/DNC needs to look at serious reform, just like the whole entire democratic party if it wants to survive.

IMHO Since the Grass Roots managed to raise more $'s for the Kerry campaign than the corporate interests I would say the DLC/DNC needs to start courting the grass roots and harness that support and energy.

That small group of men hijacked our party in 88 just as surely as the Christian Coalition did to the other party.

I have in the last decade seen Florida Democrats become Republicans in both name and ideology. It did not have to be that way.