Could the New Democrat Network (NDN) Replace the DLC

[mot78]

as the premier "centrist" group. They're not trying to appease * like the DLC is, since they're standing up for Dean. Moderates are definately welcome in the Democratic Pary, and it seems the NDN understands the party base better than From and Lieberman. Is it possible that the DLC could slide into obscurity (especially if Dean's elected) and the NDN replace it?

[eileen_d]

1. No, "evil NDN" doesn't have a good ring to it.

Just kidding :P

[uberotto]

3. What are you talking about...

the EVIL INDIAN (NDN) would be cowboy *bush next big catch phrase.

my guess is that he already spells "Indian" N. D. N. anyway.

[WhoCountsTheVotes]

2. The DLC call themselves "New Democrats"

So this is a new centrist group to replace the original centrist group - is this progress or something else? Oh, this is Dean's faction of the DLC gone to make their own group? Splitters!

[WhoCountsTheVotes]

4. those GOP quotes are *devastating*

That graphic with the quotes from Republicans attacking Clinton's foreign policy is great - can I copy that?

[WillyBrandt]

5. New Democrat Network is Great: not the DLC

You know, there are moderate progressives and liberal progressives. I welcome them both.

The problem with the DLC is NOT their positions or their beliefs--some of which are quite good, actually, if you read their stuff.

The problem with the DLC is their lack of creativity, their capitulation to the GOP, their sheer lack of backbone. They have policies that really help people, but they keep us from being the PARTY OF THE PEOPLE.

The NDN is quite different.

[WhoCountsTheVotes]

6. Is the NDN an anti-Progressive Caucus group?

Because we already have the Progressive Caucus for moderate progressives and liberal progressives, so what is this NDN about exactly?

[WillyBrandt]

7. The NDN is not antiprogressive

is an organization for Democrats that works across the country. It's just what it says: it's a network. Not a think tank, like the DLC. Not even a faction within the Party per se.

The Progressive Caucus is a group of people within Congress; it's a different kettle of fish entirely.

People need to realize that USUALLY there isn't much difference in the policies of centrists and liberals within the party (the differences simply get more play. The differences usually concern style and political strategy/tactics

[w4rma]

8. context

The Democratic Party: Outside In
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/11/13/opinion/main583484.shtml
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=108&topic_id=84412

[hedda_foil]

9. The NDN is part of the DLC.

It's the part that vets candidates for the DLC. They used to be a PAC as well, but McCain-Feingold seems to have put the kibosh on that as they're now telling their members to contribute directly to the candidate.

Simon Rosenberg, the president of the NDN is a protege of From's. He might be trying to differentiate himself by saying nice things about Dean, but that doesn't make him trustworthy or different from the rest of the corporate-loving leaders of the DLC. My guess is he can see that From and Reed have lost credibility and he's trying to set himself up to take over.

[Tinoire]

10. Whose leg are you trying to pull? The NDN IS the DLC. Founded byLieberman

When you can't change your stripes, change your name huh?

Behind the DLC Takeover
By John Nichols

Those corporate contributors--whose names fill the lists of givers to the DLC and a closely linked political arm, the New Democrat Network--include Bank One, Citigroup, Dow Chemical, DuPont, General Electric, the Health Insurance Corporation of America, Merrill Lynch, Microsoft, Morgan Stanley, the National Association of Mortgage Brokers, Occidental Petroleum, Raytheon, and much of the rest of the Fortune 500.

"With the DLC in a position to influence the Democratic Party, Wall Street wins either way," says populist Jim Hightower, who has abandoned his lifelong loyalty to the Democratic Party this year in order to back Nader's candidacy. "If the Republicans win, the corporations have a party in power that will do their bidding. And if the Democrats win, Wall Street knows the DLC will keep them in line."

<snip>

After the 1994 election, DLC cadres set about shaping political structures that would give it greater influence within the Congressional Democratic caucus. They formed the New Democrat Network, a well-funded group dedicated to electing and reelecting corporation-friendly Democrats. It expanded the House membership after both the 1996 and 1998 elections.

Today, the DLC is not merely the favored club of Al Gore and Joe Lieberman. It's also at the center of a web of think tanks, lobbying groups, and electoral activity designed to create a new-model Democratic Party. This new party favors Wall Street-approved free trade pacts, privatization of public services, school "choice," business-friendly regulatory "reforms," and other planks of the Republican Party's economic platform. The DLC-tied Progressive Policy Institute has become the prime Democratic exponent of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce line on globalization: free trade good, protests bad.

<snip>
http://www.progressive.org/nich1000.htm





Remarks By Senator Joe Lieberman:
Fighting Poverty, Creating Opportunity

Thank you. When we first imagined NDN in 1996 we had no idea of how big an impact it would have. Over the past 6 years, NDN has helped elect dozens of our colleagues, and has been instrumental in forming the House and Senate New Democrat Coalitions. These groups now include more than one-third of all Democrats in Congress.

There is one person who deserves special credit for NDN’s remarkable success: Simon Rosenberg. Simon is doing his part to make our Democratic Party strong and our democracy healthy. Thank you, Simon.

I applaud all of you at NDN for charting a fresh course and uniting Democrats around a progressive vision for the future. It couldn’t have come at a more urgent time.

Today, America faces a combination of challenges unimaginable just a few years ago: terrorism, war, deficits, unemployment, economic stagnation. More than ever, America needs Democratic leadership. As the party of Roosevelt, Truman, Kennedy, and Clinton, make no mistake: we are the party of progress, strength, inclusion, ¦economic growth and global leadership. We are the party that has kept American strong at home and around the world.

<snip>

http://www.newdem.org/press/newsreleases/2003-06-17.562.phtml

Lieberman: Big Donations From Big Businesses (Aug 2000)
by Elizabeth Shogren of the Los Angeles Times

WASHINGTON - Democratic vice presidential nominee Joe Lieberman, who for years has tried to move his party toward the political center, also has worked to expand its base of financial donors.
Lieberman is co-founder of a political action committee called the New Democrat Network that raises money for Democratic candidates from nontraditional sources.

"The New Democrat approach has been to unite the base and expand into a new pool of voters and supporters," said Simon Rosenberg, president of the fund-raising network. The PAC has raised $5.5 million this election cycle, and "Joe has done a great job of balancing traditional Democratic interests while expanding out into a new pool of donors," Rosenberg said.

This is reflected in contributions to his own Senate re-election campaign in Connecticut. His most generous donors are lawyers, Israel supporters and a donor category composed of banks and insurance, investment and real-estate companies. His 2000 Senate campaign has received more than $200,000 from each of those donor groups since 1994. Insurance is a major industry in Connecticut.

<snip>

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines/080900-02.htm


Lieberman urged to quit Enron probe over cash ties

A government watchdog group yesterday asked Democratic Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman to quit a politically charged investigation of Enron Corp. because he and his New Democrat Network have received more than $250,000 in campaign donations from firms with ties to the case.
Citigroup Inc., the largest creditor of Enron in the bankruptcy action, is Mr. Lieberman's single biggest campaign contributor since 1997, with $112,000 in donations. It gave an additional $100,000 last year alone to the New Democrat Network that Mr. Lieberman founded, according to Federal Election Commission records.
The campaign donation disclosures highlight the political risks in the Enron investigations for congressional Democrats, who are eager to publicize the Bush administration's ties to the Texas-based energy company.
Although Enron gave generously to the Bush campaign and to congressional Republicans, Democrats are not immune to charges of influence peddling. Enron also donated $25,000 to Mr. Lieberman's New Democrats in 2000, records show.

<snip>

http://www.papillonsartpalace.com/lieberma.htm