The mother of all battles

The battle for the future direction of the Democratic party is underway. In one corner are the DLC-types.

Here are some simple truths every Democrat needs to hear. To win back the White House in 2008, our party must change. We must be willing to discard political strategies that may make us feel good but that keep falling short. We must finally reject the false choice between exciting our base and expanding our appeal, because unless we both motivate and persuade, we'll lose every time.

But above all, Democrats must be bold and clear about what we stand for. It's time to show the millions of people who can't tell what Democrats stand for that any American who believes in security, opportunity, and responsibility has a home in the Democratic Party. . .

Let's not kid ourselves: Americans didn't have any trouble telling the difference between John Kerry and George W. Bush. The trouble they had was figuring out what our side stood for. . .

The most important challenge for Democrats, and the country, is security. It cost Democrats the Senate in 2002. It cost us the White House in 2004. In the next decade, it will determine whether we can recapture the glory days of FDR, JFK, and Clinton, or whether we will go the way of the Whigs and the Know-Nothings. Fair or not, too many voters doubted our party's toughness and resolve in the face of new dangers. Until we recapture the muscular, progressive internationalism of Roosevelt, Truman, and Kennedy -- and convince voters that national security is our first priority, not just something we talk about until we can change the subject to more comfortable domestic issues -- we'll have a hard time convincing them to return us to national power. . .

In the other corner, well, see here, here and here for representative samples.

I certainly hope that the DLCers prevail in this struggle. I voted for Bill Clinton (an original DLCer) twice, although I don't know that I would vote for him now because of his tepid responses to al-Qaeda and Saddam throughout his two terms. But there are Democrats that I would strongly consider voting for in 2008 (e.g., Lieberman, Biden, Bayh, Bob Kerrey), particularly if the Republicans nominate someone with no special national security resume and right wing views on domestic issues.

My point -- Go DLC!