Opinion: DLC ignored by all but its beloved Bill
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Former president Bill Clinton returned, in triumph, today to the ‘national conversation’ of the Democratic Leadership Council, the centrist party group that played such a key role in his two White House wins.
The DLC has fallen into disrepair recently as the party and its presidential candidates moved to the left, abandoning the center of the political spectrum that allowed Clinton to build such successful political coalitions in the 1990s. In fact, none of the current Democratic candidates including Clinton’s wife, Hillary, could find time to appear at the DLC’s two-day national meeting in Nashville.
According to The Times’ Robin Abcarian, who covered the sessions, Clinton was described as ‘our beloved President Clinton,’ treated to rousing ovations and mobbed after his remarks. ‘The good thing about being a former president,’ said the former president, ‘is you can say anything you want. The bad thing is no one has to listen.’
Looking sunburned from a recent six-day African trip, Clinton wore a brown suit with a...
cream-colored shirt and bright orange tie. He showed no cleavage. He declined to enter the recent foreign policy argument between his wife and Barack Obama or to discuss the current campaign except to say, ‘I really do like them all even though I have a favorite.’
It was a heady time for the 350 or so moderate Democrats to meet. DLC head Al From outright predicted a Democrat will win the White House next year ‘unless there’s a big change.’
One delegate, Rachel Storch, a Missouri state legislator, professed no disappointment to Abcarian over being ignored by all the candidates, who did make time for the Take Back America conference last month and will be attending the upcoming DailyKos convention in Chicago. ‘They’re fighting over the left,’ she said, implying the candidates could count on the DLC no matter what.
Clinton offered a strong endorsement of the group, saying recent articles about its demise were premature. And he said he remained optimistic. ‘I was more idealistic the day I left the White House,’ he said, ‘than the day I walked in. I believe the 21st century can be the most peaceful period in American history.’
But, he warned, ‘We have got to get our country back into the solutions business. As long as Democrats are in the solutions business, there will be a need for the DLC.’
--Andrew Malcolm