Democratic Leadership Council

The Democratic Leadership Council is an influential non-profit corporation that advocates centrist and neoliberal positions for the United States Democratic Party. Moderate 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 reform their political philosophy if they were to ever retake the White House, a goal which had eluded the Democrats since the 1976 election of Jimmy Carter. The DLC hails President Clinton as proof of the viability of third way politicians and 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.

Positions

It is the opinion of the DLC that left-wing positions are not politically viable, citing the defeated Presidential campaigns of Senator George McGovern in 1972 and Vice-President Walter Mondale in 1984. The DLC claims 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.?

Related Topics:
Left-wing - George McGovern - Walter Mondale

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In terms of concrete policies, the DLC's centrism is illustrated by the Welfare Reform Act, President Clinton's expansion of the Earned Income Tax Credit, and the creation of AmeriCorps. Currently, the DLC supports expanded health insurance via tax credits for the uninsured and opposes plans for single-payer universal health care. The DLC would like to address the education crisis with universal access to preschool, charter schools, and school choice (but not school vouchers), and supports the No Child Left Behind Act. The DLC has argued for reforms of Social Security, including privatization. The DLC supports both NAFTA and CAFTA.

Related Topics:
Welfare Reform Act - Earned Income Tax Credit - AmeriCorps - School vouchers - No Child Left Behind Act - NAFTA - CAFTA

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The DLC has opposed certain policies of President George W. Bush, such as the partial birth abortion ban, and the underfunding of the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) program. Often the DLC criticism is measured and nuanced: The DLC supports Bush's tax cuts except tax cuts for the wealthy, and supports some forms of Social Security privatization but opposes financing private retirement accounts with large amounts of borrowed money (see Social Security Debate).

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The 2003 Invasion of Iraq

The DLC also 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 pretences, 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". 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."

Related Topics:
2003_invasion_of_Iraq - Project for the New American Century - Saddam Hussein - Howard Dean - Michael Moore

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