Fortunately, far more Congressional Progressive Caucus members will actually be in a position of power in the new Democratic majority.

Because capitulation and giving up on the base worked so well in the 80's and 90's.  The DLC/New Democrats do it again...

If that's what they want, that's what they'll have. National security and fiscal responsibility are important issues where Democrats can and should lead the way. Progressive Democrats have no quarrel with them over the two.

However, when they team with corporate interests to screw the middle class, allow environmental degradation and let right-wing authoritarians erode - and now, even revoke - our Constitutional rights, they cease to be Democrats. In that case, we have two more years to find better candidates to field against them. When they are beaten in the primaries they may, like Lieberman, can run on their own ticket and become pseudo-Republicans, or they'll just fade into lobby-land.

?? Did I miss the Declaration of War or something?

"You know, I wish that we could have party unity, but it's obvious that New Democrats simply cannot help themselves."

Yes I'm sure you're just positively grief stricken at the prospect of an intra party war (of who'm you're the one advertising & promoting) I mourn your broken heart.  

we have to build a party consensus and there are many ways of doing this. there's no reason to demonize either progressives or centrists. its just so stupid.

This is why, IF we get a big enough majority, say ten seats or more, it'd be pretty cool if both Bean and Duckworth lose in Illinois.  It'd serve them right.

And in the Senate, I LOVE Sherrod Brown, Jon Tester, and Whitehouse and Webb.

Ford?  Well, I'd like him to win, but don't really care if he loses either.

And trust me on this one:  if Pederson ran a more progressive campaign (not hard to do against THE most conservative senator in the chamber, Jon Kyl), he'd be ahead right now.  Most Arizonans cannot articulate what the major differences are between Pederson and Kyl.  When that happens, the incumbent wins everyfuckingtime.

The reactionary corporatist element of the Democratic party will have to be subdued if Democrats are ever again to govern according to their own party's principles and platform.

If they want to start the war, fine. Hopefully they'll do something so provocative and enraging (i.e. Fort Sumter, Pearl Harbor) as to wake up the multitude of ordinary Democrats who have yet to realize who has been and is poisoning their party from within.

The election is less than two weeks away.  Democrats are poised for a major blowout.  Site traffic is increasing and will expand dramatically, even among the mainstream press who have learned to look to us for insight into what is happening in the trenches.  And Stoller chooses this time to announce that the Democratic Party is At War With Itself!  

Dude.. shut the fuck up.  First, I think the term 'fight' in the quote is not meant to be taken literally.  Democrats have not fallen to civil war.  Second, party unity: Good.  Absolutism: Bad.  Respect and civility is important.  I agree that Tauscher may have crossed the line here.  I hope you can see that you have too.  

After 6 years of Bush absolutism, if the Democrats can take back control of congress, there will be enough fight without the internecine war that Stoller is imagining.  

"You're right that Matt could really wait two weeks for this..."

It's the DLCer who should have waited two weeks for this. She talks like the election is in the bag and the DLC can turn it's attention to fighting the very grassroot Democrats upon whose shoulders they stand.

Near-identical stories in the LA Times and NYT, on how the Dems are promoting conservative and moderate candidates, with the unstated premise (or stated, in the LAT's case) being that they're helping to usher in Freaky Pelosi and her Scary Black Chairmen.

A cynic would conclude that the DLCists were pushing this hard. What, precisely, involves running off the 'left cliff'? Raising the minimum wage? Getting Medicare the bargaining powers that were stripped from it? Investigating White House corruption?

Ellen Tauscher is an elitist bitch who thinks that all Democratic districts resemble hers.  Doesn't her district have more money than god?

They'd probably spit in your face if you bought them a bottle of wine for less than five hundred bucks.  Her district is THE epitome of socially liberal, environmentally liberal, but a fuck-the-poor fiscal conservatism.  I'd bet you dollars to donuts that Arnold wins in her area for Governor.

People in those types of districts should shut their fucking mouths about what others should do.

You knew that the DLC would do this.

First of all, I seriously doubt that number. The DLC have this knack for accepting credit for things they had absolutely nothing to do with. Besides many members of the DLC are actually quite "liberal" and only side with them because it makes them "look" more moderate.

Second, the progressives still have a large majority in the House. So as for Congresswoman whats-her-name, "Who gives a fuck!"

Third, if the DLC want an internal war. They'll lose.

Fourth, everyone is beginning to posture for the upcoming 2008 primaries. That's when the "war" will get nasty and actually MEAN something. The DLC are nobodies. If that hasn't occurred to people by now, then it never will. They are all about "looking strong," not about "being strong." If they actually were strong then they wouldn't have to play these stupid childish games. The DLC is a money machine and nothing more. They stick themselves to winning candidates, not the other way around. Many of those "New Democrats" have no ideological attachment to the DLC (and on the flip side are not necessarily against them either).  

Finally, let this be a lesson for us all. We need to find a STRONG candidate, rally behind him/her, and stick with them to the end. We need to elect one of our own.

This is just the DLC puffing their chest and looking like idiots.

I've got to agree with those who posted above - this intra-party fight (and it is one that needs to be fought, and won, by us) can wait until after the election.

8 days to go...keep the eye on the ball, period.

This election season is showing the results of the years of effort we have all put in.

We are seeing the beginnings of a huge change in the overall tone of the electorate, the portrayal of Republicans, their leadership, and their media mouthpieces.

I think that we will see significant Democratic gains in both houses of congress, and even more significant gains in governorships, state offices ( S.o.S and A.G. for example) and state legislatures.

I think the Democratic Party will emerge from the election with a 10-20 seat majority in the House and within 1 seat of a majority in the senate.

What we should do leading up to, and following this election is very simple:

Recruit more people to join Democratic Party organizations at the basic, grassroots, local branch level. Recruit them yourself, get them to join, and keep up the heat on both the GOP and on the Democratic Party upper echelons.

Our strategy - 50 states, challenge every seat and contest every race, capture the broad base, and look for victory in the "Long Tail" is the way to win, and we have shown that our strategy and tactics, netroots, grassroots, local, person-to-person politics WORKS. Election results over the last 15-20 years shows that the old model, top-down, corporate-friendly, machine-style political insider gamesmanship does NOT work. This election season is as exciting as it is specifically and directly because of the upsurge in direct action by you, and me, and our friends, families, and allies. Time to seal the deal, and make the Democratic Party OUR party, for good!

The gnashing of teeth, whining, and savage backstabbing we are now seeing from the party insiders and corporate-friendly types is nothing more than the wailing of a defeated and desperate group of sell-outs and fingers-to-the-wind opportunists. They are attempting to "condition the battlefield" for the fight for party control that is looming.

Don't buy their attempt at spin and hype, prepare for that fight now. Join your local Democratic Party organization RIGHT NOW.

Show up to meetings, get elected to vacant positions, bring bodies - your friends, your co-workers, you fellow unionists, your fellow activists, and get them behind the push to capture and own the infrastructure.

Tauscher of California, a co-chairwoman of the 47-member New Democrat Coalition, said that 27 of the top 40 contested House seats were being pursued by Democrats who have pledged to become members of the group, which says its chief issues are national security and fiscal responsibility.

Yeah, we definitely don't want to lead on national security or fiscal responsibility.  Those are two of the three legs of the Republican Party stool (the third being Christianity).  If we took over those issues and handled them well, then the Republicans...wouldn't have anything...to...run.....on.

Hey...wait a minute....

Lets focus on getting the house now.  Next, recruit progressives to run against DINOs.  Lets make it clear that we will not go away after the election.

You know what I didn't even know Ellen O. Tauscher's name. But now that i do I don't ever want to hear her open her mouth again.

There is so much wrong here with this announcement its not even worth bothering. If anybody dem or otherwise thinks they are going to take non-populist  positions post election they have another think coming. AIPAC is done. It's their bullshit that helped get us into this disastrous position. There are smarter foreign policy positions then the AIPAC ones.

If this group wants to get into Joe Lieberman's position, being a target to both sides. Then go for it.

My advice to the New Dems. SHUT THE HELL UP.

US military death toll for October hits 100:

http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/articlen ews.aspx?type=worldNews&storyID=2006 -10-30T062818Z_01_L30767068_RTRUKOC_0_UK -IRAQ-USA-TOLL.xml&WTmodLoc=NewsLand ing-C4-World-3

Dont divide us now.  Do the finger pointing after the election.

That goes for everyone as well as MyDD.

Remember Tom Vilsalk is on our side and he is the president of DLC.

This new Dems from Red State areas may be very conservative but at least they will vote a Dem majority speaker and Pelosi controls the agenda.

Next time we work to get more progressive candidates.  

Not standing a circle when asked to form a firing squad has always been the Democratic Party's biggest  hurdle.  The big tent usually creates the best policies, but not always the best politics, as we see here.

How to avoid this trap?  Ronald Reagan was The Great Communicator largely because he made conservative ideas seem mainstream.  We need to do the same.  If we can package truly progressive ideas as something every moderate person would think reasonable, then we will start winning everywhere.  Then our intraparty 'war' will dissipate.  

There will still be a few Liebermans among us, and we should cast them out, but success gets copied, so we should focus on getting progressives elected and reelected in what are considered non-progressive districts/states.  And then watch the DLCers come our way.  Voila!, internal war largely gone.

...which will be Pelosi and she is progressive and will control the agenda.

These new Dems will just be junior players.

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/15474777/

That's why they put this piece of tripe on the front page of their dead-tree edition (the resounding victory of Brazil's Lula only rated a brief mention in contrast, even though Lula's win means that Latin America's progressive turn is now confirmed and will be difficult, if not impossible, to reverse).

Uh, so Jim Webb and Ned Lamont are crazy, kooky, off-the-cliff lefties?
   She's not (really) talking about ideology here, she's talking about power. She's basically said there she thinks regular people are idiots- whether they're netroots activists or rural voters that require urban condescension.

People who insult their own party on the eve of elections, on the other hand, those people are strategic geniuses. And, y'know, those rural imbeciles? Clearly they don't have a clue when they complain that Dem. leaders condescend to them.

What a charming effort on Rahm's part to reclaim the 50 state strategy for himself. Well, he picked the right spot, anyway- the Times loves a good history rewrite.

They are afraid because we want REAL change. We want REAL reform. We want REAL progressives in office. That would endanger the cushy jobs they hold and love so much. TOUGH. This is a dogfight for the control of the party. Its a fight to take our country back. And it wont be easy. We better be prepared for the long haul because they wont give up control easy.

I've never really believed we were winning this election through unity, frankly.  I know it's a nice idea, but aren't winning because of an incredibly productive tension?

That's why CT is so important--because it is ground zero of the rift,  the fracture, the fight, the phoenix rising in our house that's driving things forward.  

Take a look at people like the Bullshit Moose, gang.  They are all laying the groundwork to claim this election was a rejection of both the left and the right.

Bastards.  If it weren't for the left hauling their water on the Iraq War every day since 2002, these pricks would be in no position to win.

I generally consider myself a centrist, but it disgusts me to look at the people in Washington who have taken the center as their own identity in order just to get ahead in politics.

you will not turn to those of us that have warned of this.

She totally built up Steve Filson, the "centrist" former Republican.  Of course, he got slaughtered.  A bit more on her little BS in this:

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2006/5 /2/163228/9361