DLC Chair Harold Ford calls for a ‘primary of ideas’

on edit: Do you believe that Ford, and the DLC have their national priorities in order here?
Now back to the popcorn....
:popcorn:

Harold Ford calls for a ‘primary of ideas’
Clarksville Leaf Chronicle, TN - 58 minutes ago

WASHINGTON — The country needs a year-long “primary of ideas” leading up to the selection of presidential candidates, Harold Ford Jr. said today in prepared remarks in his first major policy speech as chairman of the Democratic Leadership Council.

Ford, according to the text of his noon speech, was to get the process started by offering his ideas:

— Expanding the Peace Corps, AmeriCorps and other opportunities for young people to serve their country.
— Providing free college for “any young person willing to work or serve.”
— Cutting the number of federal contractors by 750,000 and breaking up the Department of Homeland Security.
— Establishing a goal that every American household can own a hybrid vehicle or its equivalent by 2015.
— Giving parents three months of paid leave to care for their families.

<snip>

The former Memphis congressman lost a close race for the U.S Senate in November.

Ford said he would hold a series of idea forums around the country and that the DLC would launch a Web site www.ideasprimary.com to spur discussion of policy proposals.

http://www.theleafchronicle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070328/NEWS01/70328009

:wow:

What's next Harold, a chili-dog power lunch with Michael Moore?

But seriously- these are some good ideas that most voters, left, moderate or otherwise can get behind.

No complaints here- what else ya got?

So he has money and a "news" outlet from which to air his ideas.

He will probably be the next chairman of the DNC, will he hold on the DLC chairmanship as well?

{0oh..sneaky...the banner I posted is gone. I took down the link to the banner for now.)

I don't trust the group. They are way too tied to corporations.

Harold Ford would be well suited for such a job.

He is a big important guy already. For a little while we actually have a chairman who is more than a figurehead, and you are longing for the good old days.

That sure didn't work out well for Democrats, the country and the world the LAST time a Dem president protected BushInc.

..that reduces the role of the DNC chair.

She has the money and the power. We might as well sit out the primaries.

Just go along for the ride.

I hope people dont take your advice to heart-and carry it over when it comes time for the general election.

I'm not in the mood for one of our patented flame wars, but if you encourage people to not work for DEMS during the primaries, they may just not do any election work during the general either.

I'm not trying to snark at all-or invite snarks in return- but this will be a problem if this attitude continues and Hillary is indeed nominated.

Harold Ford seems to be cultivating the right attitude- that the DLC needs to keep these guys in the fold- I hope the DLC/Hillary DUers follow this attitude as well.

Seriously- I'm not trying to snark at or argue with you- I'm saying it's not a good idea to discourge people to work for DEMS- in any way, shape or form.

:shrug:

If she wants to be dramatic, I'll take her at her word.

I pray that the DLCers here at DU follows Ford's lead- or what seems to be his lead in this instance- in embracing what you guys have made fun of as "the wacky far left" (AKA- 90% or more of DEM campaign activists)-at least on some issues.

You will need these hard-workers if Hillary wins- unless there is some plan to replace hard-working party activists with apolitcial moderates and swing-voters.

I am not inviting snarks, but I can honestly say that some of the more bullying and cynical DU DLCers have done more to make me dislike and feel isolated from the DLC and Hillary than those actual parties ever did themselves.

... I did not encourage her to sit out the primaries. She said she might as well since she believes Hillary will be nominated and I told her she wouldn't have to stress anymore.

And by the way - the ideas Ford lays out are staples of the New Democrat's playbook.

I didnt know either of us were speaking in opinions, but fair enough.

....all the way to the general election slaughterhouse.

at this point.

The only way for us to survive is to fight like hell now, NOT for some god damned nominee, but for CITIZEN COUNTED OPEN TABULATIONS.

No electronic voting, no bullshit optical scanners. we need all of us to count our votes.

Stop being enamored with the Corporate bought and sold candidates, we need REAL citizens who haven't been bought and groomed by corporations/media hidden behind the curtain.

Thats our salvation America. That simple friends.

Governor Dean is able to be the party's leader and do things like the 50 state strategy in in his job because there is no Democratic President. If we get a Democratic President in 2008 he or she will become the leader of the party and have full control over the party functions. What that means is that he or she will appoint a figurehead to be DNC Chair and that person will take orders from the White House political director.

This is nothing new, it is the way that it has always been. The President is the party's leader and the President's advisers are in charge of running the party. When we are out of power, the DNC Chairman has a lot more flexibility in terms of strategy and decision making. But when we are in power, the DNC Chairman is a figurehead who does whatever he or she is told. Personally I don't see Governor Dean as the type of person who wants to be a figurehead and take orders from the White House.

In spite of what many try to portray about some of us here, many of us are pretty smart.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_National_Committee

Also I just checked the Bylaws in PDF format. They say the same thing.
Link to pdf charter. Article 5

http://a9.g.akamai.net/7/9/8082/v001/democratic1.download.akamai.com/8082/pdfs/20060119_charter.pdf

"The chairperson of the DNC (currently Howard Dean) is elected by vote of members of the Democratic National Committee. The DNC is composed of the chairs and vice-chairs of each state Democratic Party Committee, two hundred members apportioned among the states based on population and generally elected either on the ballot by primary voters or by the State Democratic Party Committee, a number of elected officials serving in an ex-officio capacity, and a variety of representatives of major Democratic Party constituencies."

Traditionally those members do what the head of the party wants if we are in power. But I don't see anything in the bylaws saying it. Just saying. I don't care one way or the other.

I have always been of the mind that Dean would been more outspoken if he had remained with DFA. I was not one who wanted him to be chairman. That said, he has tried to include from the ground up and he has done well.

If we get a Democratic President, Harold Ford will do a great job as figurehead, end of story.

Because he was not speaking properly about religious folks like Harold.

Did it seem ok when Carville also said Ford should be chairman?

It is so coincidental. Just really weird.

End of story. In what way do you mean end of story?

I hope they do make Harold Ford DNC chairman. Then I can stop my donations to the DNC monthly. I will save a lot of money.

It looks like he is the golden boy, being set up for great things.

All they need any of us for anymore is to vote in the general election. Primaries are decided already. I am not sure that voting the general even matters anymore.



Here are the leaders, the chosen, the big wheels. The rest of us are just along for the ride.

Please correct me if I am wrong, but you seem to be implying that there is a coup attempt by the DLC to take down Howard Dean and replace him with Harold Ford. I'm telling you that if Hillary gets elected President and appoints Ford, it won't be a coup it will be standard protocol. Likewise it will be standard protocol if Obama, Richardson, Edwards, or any other Democrat is elected President and appoints someone new to be DNC Chair.

I merely pointed out the way the chairperson is elected. I don't know why you call it a coup?? I thought Carville's attempt was a joke, but it was a very ugly one, coming right after we won a big election. It was done on national TV, and not a single party leader took up for Dean. Just us activists. It was pathetic.

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/madfloridian/838

But even worse was what Ford did on the Imus show. It was humiliating to both of them. It made Dean look bad to religious people, but it made Ford look worse for being so judgmental.

http://justoneminute.typepad.com/main/2005/06/harold_ford_mis.html

"June 9, 2005
Imus: "On another note here, speaking of the Democratic Party, which you are a member of, how's Howard Dean working for you?"

Rep. Harold Ford Jr.: "(Laughing) I won't have him down so many times in Tennessee on the campaign trail with me. He has made some comments as of late that really speak to a lack of understanding I think, of the country, a lack of understanding of faith and values. I'm a Democrat and I'm a God fearing one. I grew up in church. Christianity is not reserved for white males. I think perhaps Governor Dean sometimes gets a little excited at the mouth, and says things that are simply not true. It may reach a point where if he can't find a way to kind of control some of his comments, and temper his comments, it may get to the point where the party may need to look elsewhere for leadership, because he does not speak for me, and I know he does not speak for a majority of Democrats and I dare say Republicans in my home state. I know that other, even Senator Biden and others, have made some stronger comments about him. I look forward to having a chance to sit with him here in the next day or so. I think he's going to be here in Capitol Hill a little later today to meet with us. I want to ask him directly. Can he contain himself in a lot of ways, and what is his thought process in a lot of these issues because it is not representative of where the party is."

So try to understand us nervy party activists who were 100% right about Iraq while the DLC group was wrong. We resent people who don't even know how the chairman is chosen going on TV and denouncing someone who is working to rebuild a long-neglected party structure.

They don't even know how the chairmnan is chosen. For the DLC to chose Ford as chairman after all that is like a slap in our faces.

He was overwhelmingly chosen by the members of the DNC and his strategy has yielded results. Of course Harold Ford and James Carville aren't going to like it, because they can't take credit since they fought him tooth and nail the entire way. Dean has gotten plenty of vindication. He doesn't need anymore for people like Carville and Ford.

I like the AmeriCorps/Peace Corps idea, tied with the college education. I especially like the 3 months leave for taking care of new children.

Now, whether they will happen or not, that is a matter to be debated.

A primary of actions would be preferable.

not all of us are about to become parents :eyes:

If you are looking for a candidate w/clear support of the Peace Corps contact the Dodd campaign, it's one of his strengths (along with his foreign policy experience and tenure in the Senate).

:hi:

My baby and Seth's baby are due within a month of each other.

However, I already GET paid leave, yet I still think this is a good policy.

Why the snark?

Seth and I are fellow Iowans (living about 45 minutes apart from each other and yet have never met :shrug:) and he reports regularly on the 'progress' his baby is making (along with some help from 'Little Mama'). I've teased him about stopping the constant baby threads in the Iowa Forum, hence my comments in this thread.

It is nice to know Seth has friends outside of the IA Forum, and a fellow Clark supporter to boot (would be nice to know the General's plans for 2008!)

:hi:

Debi

You can't mess with me sucka!

For real though, in regards to the General's plans, wouldn't we ALL like to know?! Man, I don't think I could get any more anxious...

Thought someone was gonna cross my name off the list and mail me the pencil!!! :scared:

What does one need to do to become a member of the I :loveya: Seth fan club???? Sheesh!!

What's not to love?

It looked snarky to me because there is no inflection in the written word.

My bad!!

:hi:

I can be pretty snarky - Just ask poor Seth - this just wasn't one of those times.

That's what I get for trying to play off an inside joke in GD-P! :hi:

Good luck w/your soon to be family :7

Thanks for lookin out! Debi is just messin with me though...I am always talkin about my baby in the Iowa Forum. I suppose I should have had a disclaimer stating that I had a child on the way..ha ha.

Hope all is well with you on the baby front, my lil mama is getting bigger by the day, but is coping well (this is her first!).

Nice to see you!

I have co-workers based in the UK and in France who really enjoy all of the time off provided with a newborn/newly adopted child. I would think the party of 'family values' would support this, but we all know it wouldn't benefit corporations, and that is who they are truly loyal to.

Dodd eh? I do believe that Wes would like to see the national service organizations expanded as well, and I am still holding out for him to run. So there!

I'm just saying that there are actual DECLARED candidates who you may want to consider.

:P

Sic her Clarkies!

Seriously though, I am nonplussed with the 'declared' candidates. If I gotta throw my support behind anyone right now, Dodd is just as good as the next one.

:rofl:

How is it that so many of us are undecided but it only = 10-15% in the polls?

Tell your Clarkie buddies that I'm one of the good guys, or I'll tell Mr. Debi and you are being mean to me....that'll get you in some hot soup!!!

I'm sick and feel yucky, I'm headed home for the day. :hi: bye!

And as for the official proclamation:

Let it be known that Debi, fellow Iowan, is one of us "good guys" and shall not be picked on unless she really deserves it, like she usally does..I mean..wait.. Ok..so yeah, she is a nice person. That is all.

ON EDIT: Trust me, she really is an ally, so be nice.

Anyone who is really interested in letting ideas dominate ought to call and work for public financing, so that we can tell which ideas really are the most popular, rather than which have the most money behind them.

I remember "Good night, Vietnam" at the DLC, and I remember the 2003 memos taunting those of us who opposed the war.

We were called fringe, humiliated by that group.

They had a press conference and said Howard Dean would not be president.

How quickly we all forget.

And he has been tapped to be the next DNC chairman. Don't kid yourself. That was what Carville used his CNN air time for.

And don't make me post what Ford said about Dean on Imus. About his not being religious enough. I get tired of posting it and no one cares anyway.

Although Dean has really really let me down, w/regard to the new totally screwed up primary calendar, I still remember his ideas and his passion. And NOBODY can argue against his 50-state strategy. :hi:

But it looks like they are at least talking about throwing a bone or two to the non-conservative DEMS & moderates for a change.

Do you have some inside info that Dean is on the way out? I know that many of the local & state parties wont hear of it, much less the on-the-ground activist types who do all the grunt work for said state & local parties.

Don't worry- unfortunately the DLC will still present plenty of things for moderates & progressives to be leary of.

But fair is fair- these seem like some good ideas- let's hold the DLC to them.

Good doggie dems, is that what we are now?

Too soon we forget why we are in Iraq.

We will agree that at this point, Ford's talk is just that- talk.

I was trying to be as fair as possible- merely stating that the ideas sound good and that they are obviously trying gain support/trust from moderates & progressives -at least on these issues-rather than shunning them- it's a nice change. They seem to recognize that they will need our support.

Like I said- if a continued rivalry is what you want-dont worry, unless they found Jesus-the DLC will do plenty to piss off moderates & progressives before it's all said and done.

:shrug:

n/t

caused the populace to be pissed off enough to vote democratic?

I think the people gave a mandate: get us out of Iraq. If we ignore that mandate, we do so at our own peril.

Again, I'm just trying to be as fair as possible.

Who says we cant continue to press for better FP and Iraq policy even if good domestic policy gains popularity and traction?

Since the DLC controls Washington completely and can dictate any policy that flows out of Congress, they're merely pacifying you while they draw up their plans for world domination.

n/t

I am just a little leery of the DLC, because I think they will suggest that they ARE mutually exclusive to get us to continue to support this immoral war.

For instance, his speech included the idea that we should spread democracy in the Middle East, which is exactly the same reason PNAC decided to conquer Iraq. Fortunately, the first idea in Ford's speech was to build a bigger military which we will certainly need if we're going to continue *'s Mideast policies.

I was trying to be fair to the DLC....oops!

n/t

But I know Rep. Ford has more up his sleeve than this.

it would be very useful to let them really know who we feel about issues that really matter.i`m not sure if they want to hear that they are part of the problem but that`s tough shit

Does anyone remember from the campaign?

Since he is gaining such power now, and according to Carville may be DNC chair as well....let's look at the views in those areas.

I am getting ready to post about what Al From, still a big leader in the DLC, said right after the election about us "noisy activists."

it can't be done (he's for a pull out, though), he's pro-choice, but he is weak on gay rights.

And, he doesn't want to be the DNC chair. Carville's an ass.

Does that help?

...mind you, this does not include any of the non-elected mouthpieces in the DLC like Al From - who personally can go fuck himself.

A few years ago I use to read some of the articles put out by the DLC and I really like what they had to say. I don't want them in charge of my Senate & Health but I would like some of their better viewpoints like the ones you posted to get a vote in congress.

And I like what he said about Hybrids. I'm thinking of getting a new car and would love to get a Prius but I can't justify the price. A Prius, even a year old Prius is about $4k-5k higher than what I want to spend. So I'm probably going to stick with a regular gas car that gets decent gas mileage

You left out his very FIRST idea. But that's okay. I'll put it at the top of the list I gleaned from his speech.

-- bigger military
-- spread democracy in the Middle East
-- universal service (3 months in military, peace corps, etc whether you want to or not)
-- mandatory health insurance (but not single payer)

And click on Read More. Or just go to http://www.ideasprimary.com/Ford_speech.htm.


"We should dramatically expand Americans’ opportunities to serve by expanding AmeriCorps, the Peace Corps, Experience Corps, and state-based Civilian Defense Corps. And we should make service universal by asking every young American to perform three months of civilian service by the age of 25."

In fact, I would combine it with the free college from the OP, and extend it to 2 years or so. Basically, IF you want money to go to an accredited college, you would have to serve 2 years of community civilian service, at a charitable/legal non-profit, civilian government, or, if you wish, in the military. You can delay the service itself till after college, Ford put down a specific age, I say that's wrong too, but you would have to serve in some type of public service by the time you are 30.

I support universal service, with the caveat that a non-military option be available. I would have loved to have been able to joined a civilian corps of some sort to earn my way through college.

Though, as I said, I would expand it so that time at let's say, the Red Cross, would count as well, so you don't even HAVE to work for the government in any capacity if you don't want to. This allows for two things, one is that there are always options, and two, availability of jobs. For example, I would like to see the Military cut back to a defensive force only, with limited ability to project itself beyond U.S. borders, in a case like that, the Military may have to turn away volunteers, so, to keep options open, they can work for an accredited non-profit, charity or legal organization.

This can even work as a PART of education, for example, the government could help pay for a college student to go to law school, and they can intern at a non-profit legal organization of their choice as a paralegal or intern and that would count towards their college tuition. The only exceptions I would make to working at a non-profit would be that it cannot be a church, nor can it be a partisan organization. To give yet another example, working at Catholic Charities would be OK, but working for the Catholic church itself wouldn't count, you also can't work at lets say, the DNC, but you could work at the NAACP.

Also there would be two tiers, basically, in how universal service would work, though I don't know how it could exactly work, one idea is that if you are acting as a volunteer at a soup kitchen, an unpaid job, basically, you can work LESS hours, but still get full tuition for college, like let's say 10 or 20 hours a week. However, if you get a paid position somewhere, it would have to be 30+ hours a week that you have to work in order to get full tuition. Its either this, or the government can help pay for your living expenses.

This can also be combined with a publicly funded job placement program for after graduation, so that the government can help you find a job based on your skills and education. The best thing is to keep options open for young people, so that, for example, a high school graduate can work immediately after high school for a few years, let's say they have to help their parents out, or something like that, but they wouldn't be under a HUGE time constraint, and therefore can enter college when they are FULLY ready, so that they can actually succeed and be able to concentrate on college. This will increase participation in the program and hopefully young people will appreciate public and community service a little more.

It's the other ideas I don't like. I've got an idea but he wouldn't appreciate it.

The Peace Corp/America Core ideas have been out there for a long time. They never truly made them well linked to school funding or other benefits. I have long thought that a mandatory national service with a wide and diverse range of service options in return for a peaceful GI bill kind of program geared toward education and home ownership is a smart move toward forming a cohesive society. We could put our income dependent and/or interested boomer's to work organizing public service opportunities for

As far as number three suggestion goes, I would need more information to determine the correct amount to cut or keep. Also the Dems are on record as supporting the 9/11 commissions recommendations as regards security. This is interesting in and of itself, given the poor job the commission did on just coming up with a narrative that holds water. So perhaps it's time to revisit how these decisions were made and if they were well made.

#4 sounds like a catchy update of "a chicken in every pot." I would far prefer to see real progress on mass transit options than some slogan, soon to go the way of so many slogans. An integrated train or bus line within a couple of miles of 85% of every American might be more of a revolutionary concept. In fact, just on the face of it, I'd have to really question this idea as being serious. It sounds like a jobs program for the Auto industry. I'd prefer a jobs program for the public transportation sector. When every Chinese person and every Indian citizen also has a hybrid, we will all be dead from pollution. This is short sighted gibberish. What we need is a way to stop all the resources being funneled into private car ownership and instead come up with a publicly owned and run mass transit option. Run in conjunction with surface transportation we could cut the need for as many private autos and have better and cheaper transportation.

#5 Paid leave works well if you are solidly middle or upper middle class and work for a covered corporation/employment entity. If you make sandwiches at Subway, what then? Just deal? So I'm not opposed to it, just wondering how we extend that concept to all American families.

Trust me- I am not saying that we lower our guard and trust all things DLC at all- but if the DLC is co-opting some "far left" ideas, then I'm not complaining.

trying to copy the Republicans in such an OVERT way
I might feel a bit more responsive.

I like Harold Ford--this is nothing personal against him.

This Ideas, Party of Ideas, Big Ideas has been the
bread and butter slogan of the Republican Party.

Newt Gingrich for eons it seems has been talking Ideas.
They used it for years and years and now Newt
is traveling the country with his Big Ideas Campaign.

At DLC Al From has played "copy the Republicans" for
years, Go back through the archives.


Sorry to be so negative today--but this made me
go into a kneejerk spasm.

We are the Democratic Party. We should be for Action.
Ideas come and go and are a dime a dozen.

I mean seriously, kill the Department of Homeland Security, Universal higher education, more hybrids, etc?

OK, I agree with all that, the beginning of his speech though, is erroneous, we are not in a position to afford a bigger military, and we also don't need to "spread democracy" in any part of the world. It has failed so far, I don't see why we should be trying to do something we haven't succeeded in doing for over 50 years.

How about educating all young adults by the time they are 16 about sexuality, domestic abuse, parenting, preventing child abuse, and what an incredible comittment an unplanned pregnancy will demand of the rest of their lives instead of, or in addition to Number 5?

Also, number 2 - How about the guarantee of decent affordable health care to any young person willing to work or serve, especially if they get wounded. Wait, how about decent, affordable health care for everyone?

Oh, then there's number 4. What about establishing a goal that every household has access to food, clean water and ssome chance to get out of poverty in a gang-free environment?

How about anyone making over $750,000 a year paying taxes for at least one family of four making less than $50,000 a year?