Will Democrats Abandon The Middle?

"They'll find their way back to the middle. And if they don't, they won't win." So says a blunt Harold Ford Jr., chairman of the Democratic Leadership Council, of his party's current crop of presidential candidates. The Wall Street Journal ponders just how many would-be Democratic presidents recognize the wisdom of his words. Mr. Ford Jr. "Mr. Ford Jr. is in a feisty mood throughout the chat, as well he might be given the shelling his group has recently endured at the keyboards of the far left. Skip back 15 years, and the DLC stood as the proud architect of Bill Clinton's 'New Democrat' campaign victory. Liberals derided the outfit's goals of nosing the party back toward the political center, but former President Clinton understood the perils of running as Jimmy Carter."

The Wall Street Journal piece continues: "Today, the DLC is again battling for the souls of those Democrats who would occupy the White House, urging them toward a centrist agenda that will seek to convince the broad middle that Democrats can be trusted on national security, values and fiscal responsibility. Mr. Ford's colleague, DLC founder Al From, thinks the stakes are giant, and that the public's unease over the war, health care and the economy has created the 'first time in modern political history' that his party has the opportunity to 'build an enduring majority in the progressive center.'

Mr. Ford, who took over the DLC chairmanship in January, admits that the Democratic Leadership Council has been eclipsed by liberal and leftist activists, particularly those organizing over the Internet: "The DLC and other moderate groups have struggled a bit to find not only our voice, but a way to be heard." Making it harder is that this newly energized left is directing inordinate firepower on the DLC itself, in a crazed, purist drive to purge any group that would exert a moderating influence on the Democratic Party.....Congress alone should be cause for the DLC's concern. Nancy Pelosi shrewdly presented her party as more centrist in last year's election, yet upon winning tossed the gavel to her liberal wing. Egged on by activists, Congressional Democrats have spent eight months fighting for surrender in Iraq, tanking trade pacts with Latin America and South Korea, and maneuvering to institute backdoor socialized health care. This undoubtedly has something to do with Congress's approval rating, which now stands below that of even President Bush."

In conclusion: "Mr. Ford, for his part, has dark warnings for those activists selling the line that last year's election is proof that their liberal ideas are now 'mainstream,' or that Democrats' reputation on national security and the economy is so secure that the candidates run no risk going left. 'That's called short-term memory,' he says, with a few references to Carter, Mondale and other ghosts of failed Democrats past. As he does his convincing, Mr. Ford is going to be holding up a few key facts, ones that no belligerent blogger has yet been able to refute. The party's most impressive gains last year all came from politicians straight out of the DLC cast. Four governors spoke at the DLC convention this year; all four had beat Republicans. The vast majority of the pick-ups in the House came from DLCers in red states in the South and Midwest. The Senate wouldn't be in Democratic hands were it not for Montana's Jon Tester. 'The reality is, without the DLC, and without candidates who subscribe to our platform, Democrats wouldn't be in the majority today. If we abandon that group, we will lose the majority and we will lose the White House,' says Mr. Ford."

My response: Mr. Ford, Jr. is correct here. If the Democratic Party wants to win the presidential election next year, they have to convince independent swing voters like me (who voted in the Democratic primary election last year, and in last year's general election gave 58% of my ballot to Republican candidates and 42% to Democratic candidates) on why we should vote for their candidate instead of the Republican one. And just being anti-Bush ain't gonna cut it either. Rather, what is their agenda for national leadership and how will it benefit us?