The rotten tree

BooMan expresses ... concern ... about the recent dustup between the DLC and the progressive grassroots. He seems to interpret the recent comments by people like Kos as a call for a split in the Democratic party. He correctly says that such a split would foolish. But I think he is reading more into this fight then is actually there.

I haven't seen anyone call for a split in the party. Yes, Kos has said that being closely tied to the DLC is a death sentence for any candidate. But that is not a call to purge the party of the DLC. It is a simple statement that the DLC is already outside the mainstream of the party. The DLC does not need to be purged because they have already purged themselves.

What a lot of Democratic leaders don't realize, because they don't spend enough time talking to the grassroots, is that the DLC is despised within the Democratic rank-n-file only marginally less than George W. Bush (in some cases worse). I'm reminded of the way the characters in Fiddler On The Roof would spit on the ground anytime they mentioned the Czar. Many Democrats I know expectorate with the same relish at any mention of the DLC.

This is perhaps an unfair assessment (I don't consider the DLC to be Republican plants. I just think they are idiots when it comes to politics.) But it is the state of opinion within the party at this moment. Kos, in his own [ahem] inimitable style, is simply pointing out to Democratic leaders that the DLC is not the way to go if they want to improve their electoral prospects.

The DLC is a poisoned tree. It may still have some valuable fruit worth picking. But the trunk is full of rot and the whole thing will fall over in the next big wind storm. The sooner Democratic leaders wake up to this reality the better for the party.