From's 'silly fights'

Time columnist Joe Klein wrote about Al From and the DLC this week, joining the 'DLC is radioactive' pile-on but pretty much on point. "From is a moderate who acts like an extremist," writes Klein.

When Klein said From picked "silly fights" (i.e. calling Al Gore "too liberal" after the 2000 election or the relentless criticism of Howard Dean in 2003), Ed Kigore responded,

What I actually recall saying to Joe [Klein] in our conversation at the DLC event is that the fight over Dean (arguably just a standard-brand nominating season fight) did indeed lead to a demonization of the DLC among many elements of the netroots, fed in part by occasional but provocative DLC quotes comparing the Doctor to McGovern and Mondale, which were not intended as compliments. More importantly, the fracas helped soldify a netroots stereotype of the DLC as an essential--perhaps the essential--part of the DC Democratic Establishment, which completely submerged the DLC's past history as party outsiders, and continuing focus on non-Beltway elected officials, as reflected in the entire eleven-year history of the DLC's annual meeting. I also told Joe that unexpressed hostility to Bill Clinton, and expressed hostility to Hillary Clinton, was a motivating factor for some DLC-haters in the party, who invariably identify the DLC with Dick Morris' infinitely unfortunate term, "triangulation."