The Democrats take a hard left as the DLC closes: bad for America, though good for the GOP

Ryan Streeter

The Democratic Leadership Council (DLC) announced today it is closing its doors. The DLC’s glory days were in the Clinton-Gore 1990s, so the organization probably outlived its purpose and should have been shuttered earlier. But its announcement today still has the feel of an end of an era – an era when Democrats could be in charge without having to be on the far left.

In the 1990s the DLC was willing to be creative and explore reforms that worked with markets rather than against them. The group had some commonalities with compassionate conservatives, and they were willing to work in a productive middle ground. They were the brain trust of the welfare-reforming, NAFTA-signing President Bill Clinton.

How ironic, then, that the group announces it’s closing on the same day President Obama gave a sincerely insincere speech at the Chamber of Commerce, during which he had the gall to challenge businesses to “come off the sidelines” and “get in the game.” A man who’s never run anything commercially viable in his life took a few moments to lecture businesses about the merits of regulation with a few banal anecdotes that anyone could have fished off the internet.

And then he had the temerity to suggest businesses needed to dive off a cliff and start hiring even though demand for their products is down.

Clinton, whatever one thinks of him, would have given a very different speech because he had a strong DLC streak in him.

The DLC is shutting down after a historic mid-term election that saw the left wing of the Democratic party grow even more dominant in Congress as more moderate members got bumped off in the election.

Independents are polling along with Republicans right now on a range of issues that favor Republican policy, from the debt ceiling to spending to health care. Democrats are feeling pretty good right now because of slightly better jobs numbers, a President with higher approval ratings, and the absence of a clear GOP alternative in 2012. But the truth is that their party is increasingly controlled by a leftist elite with which the majority of Americans simply cannot identify.

This is bad for America, but it’s very good news for Republicans. Almost without trying, the Republicans are gaining the middle. They won’t keep it for long without a strong set of messages and policies that resonate with independents, but they’re being given a solid head start.