As would be expected, the two gentlemen from the Democratic Leadership Council on a conference call today told reporters they're very confident in their party's chances of reclaiming the White House, they're
happy that substantive issues are being discussed.
And then Al From, the D.L.C. founder, said he was 'very happy about the two candidates' Americans are considering.
Only two candidates?
Our ears perked up as we listened on.
'This is a really hard choice, really, for Democratic voters because they like both candidates,' said Mr. From. 'For me, I don't see that going to be a problem. I think in the end, Senator Obama's appeal that he's made very firmly and directly to independent voters, and Senator Clinton's appeal to the forgotten middle class are going to add up to a very smashing Democratic majority in the fall.'
'This is not uncommon in primaries to see this kind of passionate support for one's candidate,' added Harold Ford Jr., the D.L.C. chairman and a former Tennessee congressman.
Well, O.K. But what about John Edwards? He beat Mrs. Clinton in Iowa, as one reporter pointed out, but Mr. From still doesn't think Mr. Edwards is viable.
I'm not going to speculate where the Edwards people go because I don't know, to be honest with you. I think Edwards has run a hard, tough campaign. It's not a, you know, he doesn't take the tack that necessarily I agree with. What we've seen so far in this campaign is optimism. â*¦
I think what you're saying is that this is moving into a two-person race and that people in the race have been optimistic and hopeful, and I think that bodes well for the party because in the end, as long as I've been in politics - and I'm a lot older than 37 - the optimism always beats pessimism.
During the rest of the call, the two men said they were pleased that none of the Democratic candidates supports a single-payer health care system, that they are all taking the environment seriously, and that they're focusing on national security - a strength that Mr. From admits, 'we've not always had.'
Mr. From also was asked how he felt about Senator Joe Lieberman's decision to back Republican John McCain in this race. (Mr. Lieberman is a former D.L.C. chairman.)
'Joe Lieberman is a close friend of mine,' Mr. From said. 'I think he made the wrong decision. I disagree with him. I believe the kind of change we need in this country is going to come from a Democrat.'
One reporter asked Mr. Ford specifically to talk about how race could affect the South Carolina primary. Mr. Ford, who is black, lost the 2006 senatorial election in Tennessee and some analysts believe racial undertones played a part in his defeat. He mostly avoided the question:
There are several million black voters, I'd be careful not to respond for every black voter... In terms of the politics of it and where black or white or Hispanic or Asian or Native American voters are going to end up in South Carolina - there may be other groups or other people who are able to assess that, but that's really not what our role or where our role is.
Mark's new book, Loser Take All: Election Fraud and the Subversion of Democracy, 2000-2008, a collection 14 essays on Bush/Cheney's election fraud since (and including) 2000, is just out, from Ig Publishing.
He is also the author of Fooled Again: The Real Case for Electoral Reform,
which is now out in paperback from Basic Books, with over 100 pages of new material.
He may be reached through his blog at markcrispinmiller.com. A movie based on his
off-Broadway show, A Patriot Act, is available on DCD at www.patriotnation.com.
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