Attack of the DLC

In response to my new American Prospect cover story, the corporate-backed Democratic Leadership Council has responded with a pathetic and laughable attack on me that is so defensive/dishonest/factually inaccurate it reeks of desperation. For those who are interested, here is a quick "Claim vs. Fact" on the DLC's attacks on me:

DLC CLAIM: "I hate to sound like a pointy-head here, but the argument Sirota's making--that economic 'populism' of the most atavistic sort trumps cultural conservatism--has been around for a long time, dating back at least to the early '70s."

FACT: The implication here, in classic-DLC denial, is that economic populism was tried and it failed. Yet, what goes unmentioned is that when the Democratic Party did fracture and factions did embrace the DLC's corporate model, Democrats lost the congressional majority for the first time in 40 years, and are now, unnecessarily, on the verge of permanent-minority status.

DLC CLAIM: "Schweitzer blasted Montana Republicans for corporate subsidies, government inefficiency, etc....[this is a] strateg[y] the DLC has strongly and repeatedly endorsed."

FACT: As just one example of how false this statement is, according to the New Democrat Coalition (the DLC's congressional arm) "New Democrats have long been supporters of the Export-Import Bank, and it has been a key part of our pro-trade agenda. This year, 96 percent of NDC Members supported the conference report on Ex-Im reauthorization." As you may recall, 80 percent of Ex-Im money goes to Fortune 500 companies including Boeing, General Electric, Catepillar Inc., Mobil Oil, Westinghouse, AT&T, Motorola, Lucent Technologies, Enron, IBM , FedEx, General Motors, Halliburton, Siemans, Raytheon, and United Technologies (many who bankroll the DLC). These companies are some of the biggest job cutters in the country, yet when progressives tried to prevent Ex-Im subisidies from going to companies that are sending jobs overseas, they were voted down with the help of DLC leaders in Congress. Even the Cato Institute notes that "the Export-Import Bank is corporate welfare - it benefits a small number of private businesses at the expense of other businesses and taxpaying citizens."

DLC CLAIM: "It's pretty clear Schweitzer himself didn't think populism made it unnecessary to deal with cultural issues on their own terms."

FACT: No one said that economic populism made it wholly uneccessary to deal with social issues. As the Prospect article specifically said, "The point is to follow red-region Democrats who have diminished the electoral impact of traditional social issues by redefining the values debate on economic and class terms. Granted, the progressive populists profiled above do not uniformly hew to the standard liberal line on social issues: some are pro-life, some pro-choice; some pro–gun ownership, some pro–gun control; some pro–gay marriage, some anti–gay marriage; some vociferous about religion, some subdued. But they have shown that there is another path that moves past wedge issues if the party is willing to fundamentally challenge the excesses of corporate America and big money."

DLC CLAIM: "Sirota goes on to list a lot of other red-state Democrats who have succeeded by defying the 'corporate/DLC argument,' and most of them are actually politicians with long-standing close connections with the DLC: Ken and John Salazar of CO, Janet Napolitano of AZ, John Spratt of SC, Eliot Spitzer of NY, and Stephanie Herseth of SD."

FACT: This shows how the chameleons at the DLC have shamelessly name any up and coming politician a "New Democrat" so as to cover their own hide inside the beltway - even if those politicians reject huge portions of the corporate DLC agenda. For instance, Sen.-elect Barack Obama rejected any “suggestion” that “inclusion of my name” on a DLC/New Democrat membership list amounted to “an endorsement on my part of the DLC platform.” Similarly, with the exception of Spratt, the leaders cited in the Prospect article broke with the corporate/DLC model in defining themselves, instead raising their profile on a populist progressive message. The Denver Post noted that Ken Salazar won his "Senate seat with [a] populist campaign" – not the DLC's Republican-lite model. CBS 4 Denver reports John Salazar won by "hammering home a populist message that included bashing tax cuts for the rich" – the same kind of "class warfare" the DLC criticizes. Janet Napolitano built her record going after big corporations like Arthur Andersen, who had contributed lavishly to one of the DLC's key leaders, Sen. Joe Lieberman. She also built up a record prosecuting Qwest, a company that has been a major backer of the New Democrats. Wall Street, which contributes heavily to the DLC, sees crusader Eliot Spitzer's "as a meddler poking into issues best left to federal regulators and as a rabble-rousing populist," according to the Washington Post. And Stephanie Herseth hammered her opponent for supporting pacts like the Australia free trade deal, while the DLC applauded its passage.

DLC CLAIM: "You don't have to be a political whiz to know that Rep. Bernie Sanders is the at-large Congressman from Vermont, a state that gave John Kerry a 20-point win over George Bush. That state's relevance to a discussion of "red-state and red region" Democrats is mystifying, to say the least."

FACT: This shows how dishonest – and desperate – the DLC has become. The article wasn't talking about Vermont as a whole - it was talking specifically about Sanders' success in Vermont's "'Northeast Kingdom,' the rock-ribbed Republican region along the New Hampshire border. Far from the Birkenstock-wearing, liberal caricature of Vermont, the Kingdom is one of the most culturally conservative hotbeds in New England, the place that helped fuel the 'Take Back Vermont' movement against gay civil unions." The DLC offers no refutation that Sanders continues to win big in this region despite its "traditionally conservative" slant.

DLC CLAIM: "The only way to shoehorn Sanders and [Rep. Gene] Taylor as fellow "populist progressives" is to make opposition to trade agreements the sole definition of both 'populist' and 'progressive,' and sometimes that seems to be the thrust of Sirota's argument."

FACT: Sanders, Taylor, and other populists have worked together not only on trade legislation, but on preventing tax subsidies to job exporters, protecting citizens' privacy, and increasing funding for veterans' benefits. That is, in part, the definition of a populist – though it is not surprising that the well-heeled suits at the DLC who have never been outside of the Beltway don't quite understand that.