The DLC comes to Denver, part 2
I was terrified of being taken out of context in today's Rocky. So at first I was relieved that none of my quotes made the final draft.
But after awhile, I began to feel differently. The story quotes national bloggers, but none of Colorado's netroots activists. Not me, not Square State, not TalkLeft, not Colorado Confidential - nobody. That's wrong.
Maybe I should've responded with a little more venom when Steers asked my opinion of Colorado Democratic Senator Ken Salazar. Or perhaps I should've frothed that I wanted all DLC'ers burned at the stake.
But it would've been dishonest of me to say those things. I think America's DLC president, Bill Clinton, was an amazing leader. And I think there's room in the Democratic party for different viewpoints.
I just wish the party supported its netroots and grassroots activists the same way we support it. If Joe Lieberman loses his primary in Connecticut, it won't be because of loudmouth bloggers. It'll be because he went out of his way to tell his constituents that he didn't care about their opinions. He forgot that if he wants us to work for him, he needs to work for us.
Similarly, it's wrong of Salazar to say he'll support Lieberman, even if Democratic voters nominate someone else. This is America. Here, the voters select their leaders. Not the other way around.
But after awhile, I began to feel differently. The story quotes national bloggers, but none of Colorado's netroots activists. Not me, not Square State, not TalkLeft, not Colorado Confidential - nobody. That's wrong.
Maybe I should've responded with a little more venom when Steers asked my opinion of Colorado Democratic Senator Ken Salazar. Or perhaps I should've frothed that I wanted all DLC'ers burned at the stake.
But it would've been dishonest of me to say those things. I think America's DLC president, Bill Clinton, was an amazing leader. And I think there's room in the Democratic party for different viewpoints.
I just wish the party supported its netroots and grassroots activists the same way we support it. If Joe Lieberman loses his primary in Connecticut, it won't be because of loudmouth bloggers. It'll be because he went out of his way to tell his constituents that he didn't care about their opinions. He forgot that if he wants us to work for him, he needs to work for us.
Similarly, it's wrong of Salazar to say he'll support Lieberman, even if Democratic voters nominate someone else. This is America. Here, the voters select their leaders. Not the other way around.
9 Comments:
The MSM is slowly getting bloggers and the like.
As I've read the you and all the bloggers you mentioned -- you tend not to throw grenades and like to be thoughtful. Thoughtful doesn't make for good quotes.
The party can't control the message of bloggers or the netroots...that's a challenge for them. They'll figure out detante eventtually.
You are so right about Salazar. I've supported him because, even though his votes really tick me off about 20%of the time, the other 80% are a whole lot more than I would have gotten from Coors. And only a centrist can win statewide in Colrado so I supported him over Mike Miles to avoid Coors, who would have ticked me off 100% of the time. But Salazar goes way too far when he says that he will support Liberman, even if Democrats select someone else, as is their right, in the primary. It's perfectly OK for him to support Lieberman as a candidate in the primary but, after that, he should be willing to accept the choice that Dem voters make rather than support a turncoat running against the people's candidate. I'm still getting over Salazar supporting the pro-torture, anti-U.S.Constitution Gonzales for Attorney General!
the DLC Colorado chapter
Wow. That's news to me. I was working Kerry's campaign the year before the election - never heard of them.
Did they help Kerry, Ken or John S.? I wouldn't have known it if they did.
Maybe I missed it. Or maybe they are possibly an elitist power based group, like the DC version, that deals only at the top levels of the Dem Party and bitches about its activists who are knocking on doors and signing up voters.
If they need my help, I prolly would. If they offered to help in the Springs, I'm sure we'd take it. We're up to our asses in alligators and fundies. Maybe Marshall Whitman has some idears.
OTOH, maybe they don't think we know which fork to use for the salad.
Jay Fawcett for Congress - yeah, he can win, with some help from his friends at the DLC. Hello? Can you hear me now?
One place where I see the papers as being 'unproffessional' is not just there running stories without attribution, but when they do quote us they say 'an internet site' or some other generic descriptor. When I quote or link to them, I use thier names and give proper credit. The least they could do is point to our sites when they actually do quote them.
Zappatero,
I don't know how you define elitist. But the DLC is a think tank for those in leadership. Not everybody can be a member. State House Speaker Andrew Romanoff has been elected the new co-chair of the Colorado DLC by the organization’s Executive Committee. The "L" in DLC stands for Leadership. They won't be offering help in the Springs, because that is not their function. They aren't designed for grassroots activism. They have an entirely different purpose which is policy development. These policies would then be promulgated through legislation. This is not a grassroots project. Shocking as it may seem, not every single democrat group can be egalitarian.
Thanks for the quotes off their brochure.
I'm sure their "leadership" shall remain in quotes.
we need to remind Salazar that there is plenty of work to be done in his HOME state right now.
Zappatero, you're right on the money about the Democratic Weaselship Council. The only policies they set seem tailor-made to appease the right. As a staffer for Mike Miles in '04, I became very familiar with the Colorado Chapter, which appeared hell-bent on doing and saying all it could to undermine his candidacy. At any rate, I sincerely hope, as anonymous has pointed out, that as Co-Chair, Speaker Romanoff will help that organization to realize once and for all that steadily moving to the right will not get Democrats elected, unless of course like Senator Salazar, such Democrats continue to try to appease the Cons.
Colorado Confidential has story today at http://www.coloradoconfidential.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=219 called "A Progressive View on the DLC". It is an interview with a party chair who attened. Worth reading. Branscomb, the party chair, doesn't hold back!
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