TheDemocratic Leadership Council (DLC) was acentrist[1] non-profit501(c)(4) corporation[2] that was active from 1985 to 2011. Founded and directed byAl From,[3] it argued that theUnited States Democratic Party should shift away from the leftward turn it had taken since the late 1960s. One of its main purposes was to win back white middle-class voters with ideas that addressed their concerns.[4] The DLC hailed the election and reelection ofBill Clinton as proof of the viability ofThird Way politicians and as a DLC success story.[5]
The DLC's affiliatedthink tank was theProgressive Policy Institute. Democrats who adhered to the DLC's philosophy often called themselves "New Democrats." This term is also used by other groups who hold similar views, including theNew Democrat Network[6] andThird Way.[7]
On February 7, 2011,Politico reported that the DLC would dissolve.[1] On July 5 of that year, DLC founder Al From announced in a statement on the organization's website that the historical records of the DLC have been purchased by theClinton Foundation.[8]The DLC's last chairman was RepresentativeHarold Ford of Tennessee, and its vice chair was SenatorTom Carper of Delaware. Its CEO wasBruce Reed.
The DLC was founded byAl From in 1985 in the wake of Democratic candidate and former vice presidentWalter Mondale's landslide defeat by incumbent presidentRonald Reagan in the1984 presidential election. Other founders include Democratic GovernorsChuck Robb (Virginia),Bruce Babbitt (Arizona) andLawton Chiles (Florida), SenatorSam Nunn (Georgia) and RepresentativeDick Gephardt (Missouri).[9]
The model on which the Democratic Leadership Council was built was theCoalition for a Democratic Majority. Founded by"Scoop" Jackson Democrats in response toGeorge McGovern's massive loss toRichard Nixon in 1972, the CDM was dismayed by two presidential election losses and the organization's goal was to steer the party away from theNew Left influence that had permeated the Democratic party since the late 1960s and back to the policies that made theFDR coalition electorally successful for close to 40 years. Although Senator Jackson declined to endorse the organization, believing the timing was inappropriate,[10] future DLC founders and early members were involved, such as SenatorsSam Nunn andCharles S. Robb.
In the early 1980s, some of the youngest members of Congress at the time, including RepresentativeWilliam Gray of Pennsylvania,Tim Wirth of Colorado,Al Gore of Tennessee,Richard Gephardt of Missouri, andGillis Long of Louisiana helped found the House Democratic Caucus' Committee on Party Effectiveness. Formed by Long and his allies after the 1980 presidential election, the CPE hoped to become the main vehicle for the rejuvenation of the Democratic Party.[11] The CPE has been called "the first organizational embodiment of the New Democrats."[12]
The DLC started as a group of forty-three elected officials and two staffers,Al From andWill Marshall, and shared their predecessor's goal of reclaiming the Democratic Party from the left's influence prevalent since the late 1960s. Their original focus was to secure the 1988 presidential nomination of asouthern conservative Democrat such as Nunn or Robb. After the success ofJesse Jackson, a vocal critic of the DLC, in winning a number of southern states in 1988's "Super Tuesday" primary, the group began to shift its focus towards influencing public debate. In 1989, Marshall founded theProgressive Policy Institute, a think tank which has since turned out policy blueprints for the DLC. Its most extensive series of papers is the series ofNew Economy Policy Reports.
The DLC stated that it "seeks to define and galvanize popular support for a new public philosophy built on progressive ideals, mainstream values, and innovative, non-bureaucratic, market-based solutions."[13] It supportedwelfare reform, including thePersonal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act,[14] President Clinton's expansion of theEarned Income Tax Credit,[15] and the creation ofAmeriCorps.[16]
In 2004, columnistDavid Sirota strongly criticized the DLC as havingsold out to corporate interests. Sirota's article "The Democrats' Da Vinci Code" argued that progressive politicians are more successful.[17]
In 2006, the DLC urged Senate Democrats to vote against Bush's nomination ofSamuel Alito to theU.S. Supreme Court but opposed anyfilibuster of the nominee.[18] Ultimately a filibuster attempt by John Kerry to block the nomination would fail and 42 of the 46 Senate democrats at the time voted against his confirmation.
During its existence progressive critics argued the DLC's centrism led the Democratic party to multiple electoral defeats. While DLC candidates, office holders, and their moderate policies were generally favored by the American electorate during their existence. When the Democratic party won a majority status in the Senate in 1986, multiple centrist and DLC affiliated candidates Barbara Mikulski (a participant in the DLC's National Service Tour), Harry Reid (who once said Democrats have to "swallow their pride" and move toward the middle), Conservative DemocratRichard Shelby, DLCerBob Graham, DLCer Kent Conrad, and DLCer Tom Daschle won their election When Bill Clinton, former chairman of the DLC, made up his mind to run for the presidency in 1992, the DLC spotted the right candidate to promote its mission.[19]Bill Clinton ran his 1992 and 1996 campaigns as aNew Democrat[20][21] and (prior to Obama's 2012 presidential re-election) became the only twice elected Democratic president since PresidentFranklin D. Roosevelt (though only one other Democratic president in the years after FDR,Jimmy Carter, was ever a candidate for a second term). New Democrats made significant gains in both the 2006 midterms and the 2008 elections.[22] While explicitly denying any direct connection to the DLC in 2003,[23] in May 2009 President Obama reportedly declared to the House New Democrat Coalition, "I am a New Democrat."[24]
Some political analysts likeKenneth Baer contend the DLC embodies the spirit of Truman-Kennedy era Democrats and were vital to the Democratic party's resurgence after the election losses of liberalsGeorge McGovern,Walter Mondale, andMichael Dukakis.[25][26]Simon Rosenberg, a long time Democratic campaign operative and strategist, said, "there is a strong argument to be made that the DLC has been the most influential think tank in American politics over the past generation ... the DLC helped set in motion a period of party modernization that has helped the Democratic Party overcome the potent and ultimately ruinous rise of the New Right."[27]
In May 2003, as theDemocratic primary of the2004 presidential campaign was starting to pick up, the organization voiced concern that the Democratic contenders might be taking positions too far left of the mainstream general electorate. Early front-runnerHoward Dean, who attracted popular support due in large part to his anti-war views despite his reputation as a centrist governor ofVermont, was specifically criticized by DLC founder and CEO Al From.[28]
SenatorJohn Kerry won the Democratic primary and chose primary contender SenatorJohn Edwards as his running mate. Both were members of the SenateNew Democrat Coalition.[29]
The2008 Democratic primary pitted New York SenatorHillary Clinton, a prominent DLC member, against Illinois SenatorBarack Obama, who had previously stated that his positions on NAFTA, theIraq War anduniversal health care made him "an unlikely candidate for membership in the DLC."[30] However, President Obama surrounded himself with DLC members, appointing Clinton herself as Secretary of State. In May 2009, President Obama reportedly declared to the House New Democrat Coalition, the congressional arm of the DLC, "I am a New Democrat."[24] President Obama has also called himself a progressive and has been endorsed by Howard Dean's progressive political action committeeDemocracy for America.[31]
(Titles listed are those held at time of assuming chair.)
On the Republican side of the aisle another centrist organization was founded by moderate and some left of center Republicans with the same purpose for theRepublican Party. TheRepublican Leadership Council was founded by former New Jersey GovernorChristine Todd Whitman and former Missouri Senator and Episcopal priestJohn Danforth.
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