Promoted by Steven D.
Dear Mr. Reed,
To quote from Abraham Lincoln, “I have never written to you in greater kindness of feeling than now, nor with a fuller purpose to sustain you.”
From the missives that keep getting launched from the DLC site and DLC operatives, I feel that you are laboring under a horrible misapprehension. The Democratic blogs don’t have a problem with moderate Democrats. In fact, we don’t even have a problem with very conservative Democrats.
It’s not about positions. It’s never been about positions.
Sir, you’re fighting the wrong fight.
Why do the blogs express such distaste for the DLC? It’s because the one thing we will not tolerate is Democrats who make it their business to snipe, assault, and bludgeon other Democrats. Make no mistake, the blogs are not trying to enforce our own version of Reagen’s old “11th Commandment.” No Democrat is above criticism.
But if you make it your regular habit to attack other Democrats. If your operatives go forth to call your fellow party members “jihadists” and “members of the tin-foil hat brigade.” Well sir, no one should be expected to sit down for that.
Think for just a second. What are you possibly trying to achieve with such language? Do you really believe that belittling Democrats and calling them names is going to help? Really? Has that kind of strategy worked for you in the past? Has it worked for anyone? Do you think that being called “radical” and “fringe” is going to shame people into agreeing with you?
Just so there can be no doubt, I’m going to go over it again. Take a look through the blogs and find the articles that rail against the DLC. Are they talking about positions? Are they upset because you’re “too moderate” for the “leftist fringe?” No. The articles are there in response to verbal and written grenades that your organization seems to toss out like a trolley car puts off sparks.
Of late, you seem very upset with the blogs’ fixation on the removal of Senator Lieberman, pointing to it as another example of how we’re “leftists” satisfied with nothing but ideological purity. Look again, Mr. Reed. The blogs support a lot of candidates far more conservative than Joe Lieberman. If it was just a matter of Joe having moderate positions, we wouldn’t be having this discussion. The blogs may not always like how Lieberman votes, but that’s not the core of the problem.
The real issue is that Joe always seems on hand to deflate any sense of Democratic unity. He’s always ready to scurry off to Fox and toot his own “bipartisan” horn. Only in Lieberman-speak, bipartisan seems to mean “attacking his own party and supporting the Republicans.” Joe Lieberman could be pro-life, and still get the support of pro-choice Democrats. Joe Lieberman could be pro-war, and still get the support of pro-peace Democrats. What Joe Lieberman can’t do is be Anti-Democrat and expect the support of those who think there’s real value in the Democratic Party.
For Joe Lieberman, the ship of party unity has already sailed. He’s shown himself far too willing, on far too many occasions, to sell out the Democratic leadership for a little more “face time” on Sunday mornings. He’s already shown that he feels like the Democratic voters are worth nothing but contempt. Joe’s only loyalty is to Joe, and that we will not tolerate.
So here’s the deal, Mr. Reed. You can be as conservative as you want. You can favor the trade policies that you like. You can support the candidates that you like. If you spend the time on positive messages that build up the Democratic Party, you’ll find the blogs right there with you, ready to help every step of the way.
I’d advise you to do it. Mend your fences. Take advantage of this new instrument that’s right here, waiting to be used. I’ll be first in line to toss some money in the coffers and cheer you on.
The alternative is to continue down the path you’ve been following, and the end of that road is rocky, dangerous, and perilously close. Frankly sir, the only one trying to make this a test of ideological purity, is the DLC. That’s not going to work.
To be honest, the blogs are still in their infancy. We’re not as powerful as some of us might think, but folks inside the beltway shouldn’t take that as a sign that we won’t soon be there. We’re still headed up, and we’re going up fast. Come with us.
Otherwise… here, let me give you another quote, this one from a less historical source.
Before you answer, let me remind you that I can make your life a living hell. Every single day. Hell, hell, hell, and I mean it. — Kyra Sedgwick on The Closer
If you want to carry on attacking Democratic voters for not falling within the narrow confines of your ideological blinders, we’re going to take it to you every day. 24/7/365. Your money is going to dry up. You last support is going to fade. You are going to be remembered as a wart that the party was all too glad to remove.
Because in the end, you don’t just need a nice office inside the beltway and a few old party names attached to your roster. You need the national leadership, the national and state Democratic organizations, the activists, the grassroots, the netroots, and the voters. And sir, all those things are on our side, not yours.
Fondly,
Devilstower
| originally posted on Political Cortex |