Jack & Jill Politics

You tell me.  POLITICO seems to imply it, even though the Sith is noticably absent from the present discussion:

The Democratic Leadership Council — a group of centrists that dominated politics during the Clinton presidency but is laboring to remain relevant in the Obama era — is on the brink of a major shake-up.

Al From, the DLC’s founder and leader since its creation 24 years ago this month, said he plans to step down within the next couple of months, handing the chief executive reins to his longtime protégé, Bruce Reed.

At the same time, the Progressive Policy Institute, an influential think tank closely affiliated with the DLC, will soon part ways with the council. Will Marshall, who heads the think tank, said the recent Democratic electoral gains and a massive new agenda being pushed by the Obama administration “require us to think anew.”

The upheaval at the DLC is a striking sign of the political times. Under From, the group was always controversial — making its name during the ’80s and ’90s with stark warnings that traditional, interest-group liberals were threatening to turn the Democratic Party into a permanent minority party.

And, we all know how their predictions turned out.  If you don’t remember, allow me to remind you:  the loss of both Houses of Congress in 1994 to the Republican Party; the loss of the elections of Al Gore and John Kerry to the White House because they bought off on the DLC’s “electability” talking points, and they shanked Howard Dean back in 2004 when he tried to take the Democratic Party back with the sandbagging video clip of him cheering, but sounding like he was a maniac.

For good measure, Kos decides to sling his good friend under the bus:

So what to make of DLC Chair Harold Ford, curiously absent from this write-up? In the last three years, he has run for senate and lost, worked for Merril Lynch in time to watch them collapse, and headed the DLC in time to watch them collapse — the kind of success ratio that often merits a big promotion in DC.

The last time someone with this track record showed up in DC, he stole the White House and squatted there for eight years.

This time, many sobered up off the kool-aid after losing their retirement pensions, their investments, their homes and their friggin jobs.  And then, many of us never drank the kool-aid because our mammas didn’t raise any stupid children.

If the DLC is really dead, I have to close down my original blog, but I won’t be convinced until I see a funeral procession on K Street.