|
Democratic Leadership Council -- picture of future is grim
Edited for new information. Democrats gathered [in Columbus, Ohio] last week and heard an uncomfortable message from DLC founder Al From. Employing statistics from the national census and the 2004 presidential election, From hit his audience, including some 300 elected Democratic officials, with this grim picture of why he believes Democrats need a new act: For every two Americans who say they're liberals, three are conservatives. Democrats lost 97 of the 100 fastest-growing counties in the country last year. Small cities and most suburbs buried the Democratic ticket. Ditto married couples with children. The Democratic vote among the Hispanic population fell 40 percent from 2000. And it collapsed among voters earning more than $40,000 a year. Noting that Sen. John Kerry got a bigger vote among Democrats in losing than Bill Clinton did in winning, From declared that "the Democratic base is not big enough to win. The country is more conservative." How can Democrats win? With a tougher, pro-military stance on security, From said, and a platform that makes sense to both "the working class (labor) and the learning class (information workers and academia). Globalization of work is going to be a big issue over the next 10 years." And to capitalize on dissatisfaction with Washington -- and Bush -- Democrats, From said, must be the party of reform. "Democrats must change," he said. But change could put party unity to a severe test. That was apparent here in the angry reaction of several black participants to the heavy emphasis cultivating the Hispanic vote. For decades Democrats have built their national campaigns around an electoral base that included a heavy black vote. But Hispanics, now the nation's largest minority, are seen increasingly by both parties as a key to electoral success. As From discovered, some blacks see the Hispanic rise as a zero-sum game -- the more Democrats court the Latino vote, the less they're likely to court African-Americans. Mary Flowers, an African-American state representative from Illinois, delivered an impassioned speech warning Democrats they risk losing black voters to Republicans busy courting the black church vote. Some liberals and a few black leaders, notably the Rev. Jesse Jackson, have long been critical of the DLC because of its closeness to corporate America -- the source of much of its money -- and its message that beating up on business is no way to create jobs. For example, Democratic National chairman Howard Dean, a darling of the party's vocal liberals, was a conspicuous absentee. Posted by: trailing wife 2005-08-02 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=125678 |