Speak out against the DLC! The Democratic Leadership Council is 100% DINO (Democrat in Name Only). They have been attacking Howard Dean and studiously ignoring Dennis Kucinich, as represented by this awful commentary they put out yesterday (thanks to Seeing the Forest for the link). Here's a quote (there's a bag in the seat pocket in front of you):
Democratic pollster Celinda Lake hooked up 30 union members to dial meters to measure the intensity of their favorable reaction to the seven candidates who appeared. (Sens. Joe Lieberman and John Kerry were present only by video, and were not "dialed.")
The results speak for themselves, and show why we've never been big fans of focus groups, which encourage politicians to tell audiences exactly what they want to hear: According to the Des Moines Register, Kucinich was first with a score of 78 on a scale of 1 to 100. Sharpton was second with 76. Gephardt was third with 75. Dean was fourth with 73. Edwards was fifth with 69. Graham and Mosley-Braun trailed with 66 each.
Call it a psychic flash, but we somehow doubt this will be the order of finish at the Democratic Convention in Boston in July of 2004.
Unfortunately, party nominating caucuses are a lot like focus groups, with their tendency to put pandering first. And like the Iowa AFSCME audience, they reflect views that are vastly different from those of rank-and-file Democrats around the country, not to mention the Independents who often dominate not only general elections but even primaries.
As From and Reed wrote in their memo: "Democrats who champion the mainstream values, national pride, and economic aspirations of middle-class and working people are the real soul of the Democratic Party, not activists and interest groups with narrow agendas."
So, according to the DLC, union members aren't working people, and activists aren't Democrats--Republicans are.
Lots of Democratic politicians are DLC members. We need to let them know that this is unacceptable--we need an opposition party, not water boys (and girls) and cheerleaders. The DLC has conveniently provided a search facility for finding DLC members from your state. Find out who your local "Democrats Loving Corporations" representatives are, and let them know that you don't approve. Here in Michigan, that includes Senator Debbie Stabenow, Governor Jennifer Granholm, and Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick.
Democratic pollster Celinda Lake hooked up 30 union members to dial meters to measure the intensity of their favorable reaction to the seven candidates who appeared. (Sens. Joe Lieberman and John Kerry were present only by video, and were not "dialed.")
The results speak for themselves, and show why we've never been big fans of focus groups, which encourage politicians to tell audiences exactly what they want to hear: According to the Des Moines Register, Kucinich was first with a score of 78 on a scale of 1 to 100. Sharpton was second with 76. Gephardt was third with 75. Dean was fourth with 73. Edwards was fifth with 69. Graham and Mosley-Braun trailed with 66 each.
Call it a psychic flash, but we somehow doubt this will be the order of finish at the Democratic Convention in Boston in July of 2004.
Unfortunately, party nominating caucuses are a lot like focus groups, with their tendency to put pandering first. And like the Iowa AFSCME audience, they reflect views that are vastly different from those of rank-and-file Democrats around the country, not to mention the Independents who often dominate not only general elections but even primaries.
As From and Reed wrote in their memo: "Democrats who champion the mainstream values, national pride, and economic aspirations of middle-class and working people are the real soul of the Democratic Party, not activists and interest groups with narrow agendas."
So, according to the DLC, union members aren't working people, and activists aren't Democrats--Republicans are.
Lots of Democratic politicians are DLC members. We need to let them know that this is unacceptable--we need an opposition party, not water boys (and girls) and cheerleaders. The DLC has conveniently provided a search facility for finding DLC members from your state. Find out who your local "Democrats Loving Corporations" representatives are, and let them know that you don't approve. Here in Michigan, that includes Senator Debbie Stabenow, Governor Jennifer Granholm, and Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick.
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