Debunking "Centrism"

Here is my new piece in The Nation that debunks the corporate-backed Democratic Leadership Council and media's definition of "centrism." As you can see, the definition of "centrism" in Washington's money-drenched cocktail party circuit is very different from that the definition in mainstream America.

For background on each of my main assertions in the piece see the following backgrounder:

DLC ATTACKS DEMOCRATS FOR WAGING "CLASS WARFARE"

"DLC members complained Gore in 2000 reverted to a tired class warfare message, and at the 2002 DLC meeting, Lieberman triggered an ugly split when he accused Gore of ignoring the DLC message."
- Hartford Courant, 5/7/04

"Angry DLC leaders ganged up on Al Gore, charging that his leftist, class-warfare, anticorporate message in the 2000 election turned off millions of middle-of-the-road, investor-class voters. It was bad enough the founder of the centrist-leaning DLC, Al From, and its national chairman, Indiana Sen. Evan Bayh, both attacked the former Democratic presidential nominee. But, Mr. Gore's former running mate, Connecticut's Sen. Joe Lieberman, also stuck the knife into the man who put him on the ticket."
- Washington Times, 8/5/02

DLC ATTACKS DEMOCRATS FOR BEING "ANTI-CORPORATE" DURING ENRON SCANDAL IN SUMMER OF 2002

"Angry DLC leaders ganged up on Al Gore, charging that his leftist, class-warfare, anticorporate message in the 2000 election turned off millions of middle-of-the-road, investor-class voters."
- Washington Times, 8/5/02

"Lieberman went out of his way several times in the course of his speech to urge Democrats not to appear anti-business."
- Fox News, 7/29/02

"'You can't be pro-jobs and anti-business,' said Sen. Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn., chairman of the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee. Lieberman, a potential 2004 presidential contender, warned of 'the twin dangers of doing too little [on Enron] and doing too much.'
– AP, 7/11/02

LIEBERMAN ATTACKS DEMOCRATS FOR EFFORTS TO REPEAL BUSH TAX CUTS

Lieberman “ripped Dean and Gephardt for promising to repeal the Bush tax cuts.”
- Fox News, 7/25/03

DLC ATTACKS SINGLE-PAYER HEALTH CARE PROPOSALS

"The DLC renounced [single-payer type proposals] and endorsed a more moderate proposal that did not provide universal coverage."
- The New Republic, 11/16/98

In "the earliest days of the DLC...it sharpened the rift between southern conservatives such as Cooper and party liberals who back the Clinton health plan or a government-financed single payer system."
- Washington Post, 12/7/93

Read the DLC's official 1994 attack on single-payer health care proposals.

DLC LEADERS WAGE FIGHT AGAINST DRUG REIMPORTATION

"Sen. John Breaux (D-La.), a leader on healthcare issues who has worked closely with the White House, said, "I think the president would probably veto it" if it passed the Senate. "You don't solve the problem just by reimporting drugs." Breaux has repeatedly voted against reimportation.
- The Hill, 6/1/04

"Evan Bayh [is] against reimportation."
- Indianapolis Star, 9/17/03

Senators Bayh and Breaux – both DLC leaders – were the only two Democrats to vote against bipartisan reimportation legislation in 2000. Just 23 Senators voted against the measure.
- Senate Roll Call Vote #217, 7/19/00

DLC AGAINST BLANKET RAISE IN CAFE STANDARDS FOR FUEL EFFICIENCY IN CARS

"The main tool Congress uses to curtail tailpipe emissions -- corporate average fuel efficiency (CAFE) standards -- wasn't properly designed for the job."
- DLC, 3/23/04

DLC LEADS FIGHT FOR NAFTA, CHINA MFN, FTAA DEALS THAT SELL OUT AMERICAN JOBS

"The FTAA has not been in the headlines, its creation is critically important to our future economic well-being."
- DLC, 1/1/2000

"Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman [a founding DLC leader] supports liberalized free trade with the Peoples Republic of China, and voted for the World Trade Organization as well as NAFTA. Like former President Bill Clinton, Lieberman was a leader in the centrist Democratic Leadership Council. The DLC correctly saw Democratic support of open trade as a river of corporate money to obliging candidates."
- Buffalo News editorial, 11/17/03

"The DLC's commitment to free and open trade has really been second to none. And this debate over trading authority is nothing new to each of the people in this room. The DLC was fighting for fast track as long ago as 1988. From NAFTA to GATT to MFN, you have all been with us in the trenches and your contributions have been immeasurable."
- Commerce Secretary Bill Daley, 10/27/97