Posted on 06/18/2003 10:18:32 PM PDT by LdSentinal
The centrist New Democratic Network (NDN) unveiled a new six-point agenda yesterday that it says can serve as a blueprint for making the Democratic Party the governing force in American politics for the next generation.
But NDN President Simon Rosenberg said in an interview that Democrats must first acknowledge the Republican Party and the conservative movement have a head start because of a more effective informal party organization.
In addition to providing a platform and sounding board for the party's fresh faces, the group hopes to raise $10 million to $14 million in the next election cycle. The money will be targeted for specific races, with the hope of avoiding some of the late-term spending by special-interest groups that NDN operatives argue has had little effect.
Several announced and potential Democratic presidential candidates addressed the gathering at a Capitol Hill hotel, including Sens. Joe Lieberman (Conn.) and Bob Graham (Fla.), as well as retired Army Gen. Wesley Clark. Sen. John Kerry (Mass.) addressed the convention by phone, and former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean sent a video greeting.
"Over the past six years, NDN has helped elect dozens of our colleagues and has been instrumental in forming the House and Senate new Democrat Coalition," Lieberman told the gathering.
Rosenberg explained in the interview that the network's revamped agenda and new strategy are the beginning steps of "10- to 45-year" plan to elect centrist Democrats to local, state and federal offices.
Rosenberg said the GOP's current dominance can be traced to the founding of William F. Buckley's magazine, National Review, in the 1950s, former Sen. Barry Goldwater's (R-Ariz.) presidential bid in 1964 and the birth of influential conservative think tanks such as the Heritage Foundation in the 1970s and early 1980s.
Rosenberg said he hopes to mimic the conservative movement's success by consciously borrowing from its playbook.
In the uncertain legal environment after enactment of the Bipartisan Campaign Finance Reform Act, Rosenberg predicted, some quasi-Democratic groups will assume some of the Democratic National Committee's party-building duties.
"We will be seen as one of the three of four groups in the next couple of years who will influence the Democratic Party," Rosenberg predicted.
The NDN's call to arms coincided with the creation of a new think tank, the American Majority Institute, by former White House Chief of Staff John Podesta, which hopes to generate ideas that will energize the party's liberal elements.
But Rosenberg said he welcomes all progressive groups into the fray, even if they pull the Democratic Party in a different direction.
A Marxist.
Point 1: Tax
Point 2: Spend
Point 3 : Regulate
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