I have been going through some old files today, and I thought…why not? Why not post these incredible, awesome Dean/DLC battles from 2003. Everyone else is irate today on the topic, and maybe it won’t hurt to remember a little.
His voice stirred my husband and me out of a depression about our country. We have occasional moments of despairing again now and then, but DFA activities keep us fairly sane.
Sometimes I fear the right wing in the party, with their passion for political correctness and careful words that say nothing…..will hurt us still in the future. Then Howard Dean makes a TV appearance, and he says things that are clear and thoughtful. We breathe easy and hope again. We need clearness so much now.
Anyway, here is a compilation of the DLC memos in 2003 toward the fringe activists…that’s me and most of you. Howard took up for us, but most never knew that. So here goes. Below the fold.
In 2003 Howard Dean stood for activists when the DLC called us “fringe”.
Dean Statement in Response to DLC’s Charge that Public Servants are
“Fringe Activists”
“Once again, the DLC has chosen to put their own political agenda ahead of the progress needed to unite the Democratic Party. This election has barely begun, and the DLC has repeatedly dismissed people who attend caucuses, who get out the vote, and now the 1.3 million members of AFSCME as `fringe activists’ who do not reflect `the mainstream values, national pride and the economic aspirations of middle-class and working people.’
“The DLC staff can say what they want about me, but they owe an apology to the 1.3 million members of AFSCME. Our teachers, our health care workers, and our state and local public servants don’t need a lesson from Washington insiders about the needs and concerns of middle- and working-class families. What they need is a Democratic Party that will stand
up for them.”
Posted by Mathew Gross at 04:27 PM
Dean stands up for us
Howard Fineman on the DLC Memo
Howard Fineman hysterical about DLC memos
Quoting because the archives are hard to read:
Fineman is referring to “activists” who are being blasted by From.
“FINEMAN ON THE DLC MEMO
I went and read the memo. It’s hysterical. I don’t mean funny. I mean, it’s hysterical. He calls them everything but a plagiarist, an elitist, an activist. It’s like, it’s a compliment to Howard Dean. They’re reacting like Howard Dean has already won the nomination. Howard Fineman, on the DLC memo attacking Howard Dean, on Hardball, 5/15/03
Posted by Mathew Gross at 10:25 AM
Former DNC-Chief Steve Grossman to DLC: “Creating Conflict is Not
Leadership.”
Grossman to DLC: You are creating conflict
SNIP..”FORMER DNC-CHIEF STEVE GROSSMAN TO DLC: “CREATING CONFLICT IS NOT LEADERSHIP.”
On Wednesday, the Democratic Leadership Council (DLC) released a memo in which the DLC argued that traditional Democratic values are an aberration and that the thousands of grassroots Democrats inspired by Governor Howard Dean’s message to take back our party are activist elites and not real Democrats. Former DNC chairman Steve Grossman wrote to members of the Democratic National Committee in an email sent yesterday, criticizing the DLC:
Having served proudly as National Chairman of the Democratic National Committee, I was disappointed by recent statements by the Democratic Leadership Council that disparaged Governor Howard Dean’s record of fiscal discipline and social compassion. I was particularly distressed because DLC leaders chose to label tens of thousands of grassroots Democrats who are energized by Governor Dean’s message as elitist. “
Liberal Oasis on Howard Dean and the DLC
SNIP..”May 16, 2003 PERMALINK
The “Smear Dean” Campaign Is On
(posted May 16 2:15 AM ET)
(minor edit May 16 12:45 PM ET)
SNIP…”The DLC memo is titled “The Real Soul of the Democratic Party.”
But it should be “Kneecapping Howard Dean.”
However, it is so ludicrously ham-handed, Dean trumpeted it himself on his campaign web site. (A smart rapid response that bodes well for the future.)
If the memo was a principled argument over what the party should stand for, that would be fine. You can have honorable disagreements within one’s party.
But the memo is nothing but a string of half-truths and contradictions designed to ward off insiders from backing Dean, while at the same time undermine Dean’s support from the Left…..”
And the recriminations began against many who were in leadership positions and backed Dean. It was real and it happened. Long article here, very good.
And finally, here are the memos that started the conflict:
“Activists Are Out of Step” From and Reed 2003
Activists are Out of Step
SNIP…”These days, Democrats act as if they’re so far gone they’ve forgotten where they’re from.
Every weekend, yet another special-interest group hosts a candidate forum to pressure the presidential candidates into praising its agenda. Some of the candidates seem intent on running applause-meter campaigns, measuring success by how many times they tell the party faithful what they want to hear.
There’s one big problem with this strategy: Most of those party activists the candidates are trying so hard to please are wildly out of touch not only with middle America but with the Democratic rank and file. The great myth of the campaign is the misguided notion that the hopes and dreams of party activists and single-issue groups represent the heart and soul of the Democratic Party. They don’t.
The fact is, “the Democratic wing of the Democratic Party,” as former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean likes to call it, is an aberration, a modern-day version of the old McGovern wing of the party, defined principally by weakness abroad and elitist interest-group liberalism at home. That wing lost the party 49 states in two elections and turned a powerful national organization into a much weaker, regional one. …..”END SNIP
“The Real Soul of the Party” DLC 2003
The Real Soul of the Party
SNIP..”But the great myth of the current cycle is the misguided notion that the hopes and dreams of activists represent the heart and soul of the Democratic Party. Real Democrats are real people, not activist elites. The mission of the Democratic Party, as Bill Clinton pledged in 1992, is to provide “real answers to the real problems of real people.” Real 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.
SNIP..”What activists like Dean call the Democratic wing of the Democratic Party is an aberration: the McGovern-Mondale wing, defined principally by weakness abroad and elitist, interest-group liberalism at home. That’s the wing that lost 49 states in two elections, and transformed Democrats from a strong national party into a much weaker regional one…”END SNIP
After all the blog activity this week about Hillary going over to the DLC side…..I felt I just had to say that Howard Dean still speaks for us. He is the leader of the party in our minds.