The '''Democratic Leadership Council''' is a non-profit corporationhttp://www.ppionline.org/ndol/ndol_ci.cfm?kaid=86&subid;=85&contentid;=893 that argues that the United_States_Democratic_Party should shift away from traditionally populist positions. Moderate and conservative Democratic party leaders founded the DLC in response to the landslide victory of Republican candidate Ronald_Reagan over Democratic candidate Walter_Mondale during the 1984 Presidential election. The founders believed the United States Democratic Party needed to shift to the center to remain viable during the Reagan era. The DLC hails President Clinton as proof of the viability of third way politicians and as a DLC success story. Critics contend that the DLC is effectively a powerful, corporate-financed mouthpiece within the Democratic party that acts to keep Democratic Party candidates and platforms sympathetic to corporate interests and the interests of the wealthy. The DLC's affiliated Think_tank is the Progressive_Policy_Institute. Democrats who adhere to the DLC's philosophy often call themselves New_Democrats. The DLC's current chairman is Governor Tom_Vilsack of Iowa, and its vice chair is Senator Thomas_R._Carper of Delaware. Its CEO is Al_From and its president is Bruce Reed. ==Founding and Early History== The DLC was founded in 1985 by Al_From and other Democrats after Ronald_Reagan's re-election. The DLC interpreted the election of Reagan as a signal that progressive politics needed to be 'modernized' to remain viable. They felt the Great_Society philosophy that had dominated the Democratic party since the Johnson administration had run its course and advocated "new thinking" incorporating free-market principles. The group advocated economic policies, such as decreased government regulation of business and free trade, that often conflicted with the views of traditional Democratic constituencies, especially Labor_unions. The organization started as a group of forty-three elected officials, and two staffers, Al From and Will_Marshall. Their original focus was on influencing internal Democratic politics so as to secure the 1988 presidential nomination for a Southern moderate such as Sam_Nunn or Chuck_Robb, both of whom were early DLC supporters. However, when the DLC's pet project, the Super_Tuesday primary, turned out to be a boon for Reverend Jesse_Jackson, a vocal critic of the DLC, the group began to shift toward attempting to influence the public debate. In 1989, Marshall founded the Progressive Policy Institute, a think tank which has since turned out policy blueprints for the DLC. Its most extensive series of papers is the series of New Economy Policy Reports. The DLC's biggest success came in 1992 when two founding members of the group, Bill_Clinton and Al_Gore, were elected President and Vice-President of The United States. ==Positions== It is the opinion of the DLC that populism is not politically viable, citing the defeated Presidential campaigns of Senator George_McGovern in 1972 and Vice-President Walter_Mondale in 1984. The DLC states that it “seeks to define and galvanize popular support for a new public philosophy built on progressive ideals, mainstream values, and innovative, non-bureaucratic, market-based solutions." The DLC has supported Welfare_reform, such as the ''Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996'', President Clinton's expansion of the Earned_Income_Tax_Credit, and the creation of AmeriCorps. The DLC supports expanded health insurance via tax credits for the uninsured and opposes plans for single-payer universal health care. The DLC supports universal access to preschool, charter schools, and measures to allow a greater degree of choice in schooling (though not School_vouchers), and supports the No_Child_Left_Behind_Act. The DLC supports both NAFTA and CAFTA. The DLC has both supported and criticized the policies of President George_W._Bush. The DLC opposed the Partial_birth_abortion ban, the expiration of the 1994 ban on semi-automatic firearms, the Clear Skies Initiative, and the underfunding of the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) program. Often the DLC criticism of the Bush agenda is measured and nuanced. In 2001 the DLC endorsed the idea of tax cuts for the middle class, but then opposed the tax cuts favored by Bush, which they said favored the wealthy. The organization supports some forms of Social Security privatization but opposes financing private retirement accounts with large amounts of borrowed money. Recently, the DLC also urged Senate Democrats to vote against Bush's nomination of Samuel_Alito to the US_Supreme_Court "on principle", but firmly opposed any Filibuster of the nominee.http://www.dlc.org/ndol_ci.cfm?contentid=253692&kaid;=131&subid;=192 ===The 2003 Invasion of Iraq=== The DLC gave strong support for the 2003_invasion_of_Iraq. Prior to the war, Will_Marshall co-signed a letter to President Bush from the Project_for_the_New_American_Century endorsing military action against Saddam_Hussein. Despite the DLC's centrist pretenses, the organization spared no criticism of anti-war voices. During the 2004 Primary campaign the DLC attacked Presidential candidate Howard_Dean as an out-of-touch liberal, because of his anti-war stance. The DLC has dismissed other war critics such as filmmaker Michael_Moore as "Anti-American" and members of the "loony left"http://www.dlc.org/ndol_ci.cfm?contentid=252914&kaid;=127&subid;=173. Even as domestic support for the Iraq War plummeted in 2004 and 2005, Marshall called upon Democrats to balance their criticism of Bush's handling of the Iraq War with praise for the President's achievements and cautioned "Democrats need to be choosier about the political company they keep, distancing themselves from the pacifist and anti-American fringe." ==Criticism== The DLC has become unpopular within many progressive and left-wing political circles. Some critics claim the strategy of triangulation between the political left and right to gain broad appeal is fundamentally flawed. Opponents believe that moderation does not inspire passion in voters and lacks the persistent principles and moral clarity which are critical to building a popular political movement. In the long run, so opponents say, a strategy of triangulation results in concession after concession to the opposition, while alienating traditionally-allied voters. Others contend that the DLC's distaste for what they refer to as "economic class warfare" has allowed the language of populism to be monopolized by the right-wing. Many argue that the Democrats' abandonment of populism to the right-wing, shifting the form of that populism from the economic realm to the "culture wars", has been critical for Republican dominance of Middle America. (''See, for instance, Thomas Frank's What's_the_Matter_with_Kansas'') Still other critics believe the DLC has essentially become an influential corporate and Right-wing implant in the Democratic party. Among the DLC's leadership are individuals with impressive Right-wing credentials, such as Marshall_Wittmann, a senior fellow at the DLC and the former legislative director for the Christian_Coalition, and Will Marshall, a cosigner of a letter issued by the Project_for_the_New_American_Century (PNAC) endorsing not only the Iraq War, but also an overall foreign policy similar to neoconservatism. Finally, detractors of the DLC note that the DLC receives funding from the right-wing Bradley_Foundation as well as from oil companies, military contractors, and various Fortune 500 companies. ==2004 Presidential Primary== In May 2003, as the Democratic primary of the 2004 presidential campaign was starting to pick up, the organization voiced concern that the Democratic contenders might be taking positions too far left of the mainstream general electorate. Early front-runner Howard_Dean, who attracted popular support due in large part to his anti-war views despite his reputation as a centrist governor of Vermont, was specifically criticized by DLC founder and CEO Al From. From's criticism of Dean was also likely due to the former governor's opposition to the War_in_Iraq, which most party centrists, including From, endorsed. Dean's claim to hail "from the Democratic wing of the Democratic Party" (a phrase originally used by Senator Paul_Wellstone of Minnesota) has been interpreted by some as subtle criticism of the DLC and the New_Democrats in general. Indeed, Dean once described the DLC as the "Republican wing of the Democratic Party." http://www.time.com/time/election2004/columnist/klein/article/0,18471,574861,00.html The DLC countered that Dean represented the "McGovern-Mondale wing" of the Democratic Party, "defined principally by weakness abroad and elitist, interest-group liberalism at home." Senator John_Kerry won the democratic primary and chose primary contender Senator John_Edwards as his running mate. Both Senators are members of the Senate New Democratic Caucus, and the DLC anticipated that they would win the general election. In a March 3, 2004 dispatch they suggested voters would appreciate Kerry's centrist viewpoints, imagining voters to say "If this is a waffle, bring on the syrup."http://www.dlc.org/ndol_ci.cfm?contentid=252427&kaid;=131&subid;=192 ==Former chairs== *President Bill_Clinton *Sen. Evan_Bayh of Indiana *Sen. Joseph_Lieberman of Connecticut *Rep. Dave_McCurdy of Oklahoma *Sen. John_Breaux of Louisiana *Sen. Sam_Nunn of Georgia *Sen. Charles_Robb of Virginia *Former House Democratic Leader Rep. Richard_Gephardt of Missouri. ==References== * Rolling Stone article "The Mansion Family" by Matt Taibbi, August 2, 2006 * New York Times article, "Centrist Democrats Warn Party Not to Present Itself as 'Far Left'" by Adam Nagourney, July 29, 2003 *''The Emerging Democratic Majority'', by John_Judis and Ruy_Teixeira (Scribner, 2002) * American Prospect article, "How the DLC Does It" By Robert Dreyfuss, April 23, 2001 * ''Reinventing Democrats: The Politics of Liberalism from Reagan to Clinton'', by Kenneth Baer ==External links== * The Democratic Leadership Council * List of DLC members from nndb.com * Newdonkey.com, sponsored blog * Bull Moose Blog, sponsored blog * David Sirota, a leading critic of DLC style "centrism." * Democrats Against the DLC Category:Democratic_Party_(United_States)_organizations Category:Political_party_factions