Does Obama's Rise Mean Less Clout For Democratic Centrists (DLC)?

[Purveyor]

By Steven Thomma | McClatchy Newspapers

CHICAGO — It helped launch the last Democratic president and has pushed and prodded every Democratic candidate since Bill Clinton to adopt its centrist positions on issues from budget discipline to welfare.

But when the Democratic Leadership Council met over the weekend in the shadow of Barack Obama's Chicago headquarters, he didn't bother to stop by.

Is it losing its clout? Its members hope not, sidestepping Obama's refusal to see them and politely urging him to consider their approaches.

"We asked him," said Al From, the founder of the group. "I hope he'll listen to some of the ideas we've talked about."

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Obama didn't attend last year's annual meeting of the centrist Democratic group either. The DLC was created in the 1980s to counter the party's liberal wing and was a strong advocate in the 1990s for issues such as welfare revisions and free trade, which Clinton embraced but many liberals denounced.

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But he hasn't gone as far as DLC types would like on other issues, such as advocating free trade, proposing spending cuts or acknowledging the military success of the buildup of U.S. troops in Iraq.

McClatchy: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/226/story/42700.html

[AmyCamus]

1. As Barack moves ever closer to the center, the DLC will gain -not lose- clout.

Like Bill Clinton, he faked left and ran right. If it wins the Whitehouse, I'm rooting for the tactic.

[Demeter]

2. If There's a God in Politics, I Hope So!

Howard Dean and Barack Obama are teaming up, and they work well together. They will clean up the Party, the House and the Senate, individual states, and America's many deficits. This I believe.

The disgruntled, the ethically and empathetically challenged, and the whacko insane will just have to suck up the peace, prosperity, and equal civil rights and redistributed economic rewards.

[Purveyor]

3. Obama 'landslide & mandate...2008'!!! eom

[saracat]

4. But Obama is even more off a centrist then they are!

[Doctor_J]

5. Malloy spent his program bitching about how republican Obama is

so maybe not