Daley Warnings

The biggest threat to the liberal agenda is . . . “liberals”. That is the opinion of Democrat political machinist William M. Daley as stated in his Christmas Eve Washington Post opinion piece. The corollary, which he states somewhat subtly, is that the salvation of the liberal agenda is “moderates”. It seems reasonable to consider Daley an expert on advancing the liberal cause, so his missive might provide a useful opportunity for some opposition research.

Several conservative infotainers have recently excoriated Barack Obama for not having a specific Health Care Reform (HCR) plan of his own, and for not being intimately familiar with the Senate and House HCR plans. The ire from the right may be feigned for shock value, or it may be real. Non-the-less it should be no surprise to the pundits that Obama simply doesn’t care what is in the final legislation. Oh, there are things that he would like to see in the bill, but he will sign any bill that crosses his desk and appropriately declare victory. The reason that he will be very happy to do so is provided eloquently by Mr. Daley;

“All that is required for the Democratic Party to recover its political footing is to acknowledge that the agenda of the party's most liberal supporters has not won the support of a majority of Americans -- and, based on that recognition, to steer a more moderate course on the key issues of the day, from health care to the economy to the environment to Afghanistan.

For liberals to accept that inescapable reality is not to concede permanent defeat. Rather, let them take it as a sign that they must continue the hard work of slowly and steadily persuading their fellow citizens to embrace their perspective.”

Barack Obama and William Daley both understand one thing very well, how to move the ball down the field. Every compromise by a moderate Republican or Blue Dog Democrat moves the ball towards the liberal goal. Moderates plus time equals liberalism. Conservatives understand this, and now we see evidence by the hand of William Daley that Liberals understand it as well. Where it is clear why elements within the Democrat Party would want to ‘slowly and steadily’ chart a course toward liberalism, there is simply no benign explanation for why elements within the Republican Party would strive toward that exact same goal.

The Democrat Party's agent provocateur, Howard Dean, understands the game as well, but his approach is somewhat non-linear. Dean's irrational rants provide a skewed perspective of the 'liberalness' of a position and allow a middle to be established where the left would naturally exist in Dean's absence. The dynamic and vocal complaints from the Dean wing of the Party serves as a collective "Dean scream" that provides a certain amount of legitimacy to the slow and steady, moderate, approach advocated by Daley. Though Dean's followers might bristle at being used in such a cynical fashion, their ultimate goals are aligned with those of their exploiters.

Daley understands that moderates in both Parties are ultimately useful in the advancement of liberalism and he provides a back-handed warning for the Republican Party regarding Republicans that aren’t moving to the center along with him;

“If anything, the Democrats' salvation may lie in the fact that Republicans seem even more hell-bent on allowing their radical wing to drag the party away from the center.”

That would be that pesky ‘radical wing’ that wants to follow the constitution and adhere to America’s founding principles. Some suspicion regarding Daley's motives in providing this warning to the GOP may be appropriate. Deligitimizing both the Founders and the Constitution is necessary for the advancement of liberalism and the frequency and boldness of the attacks on both are on the rise. Unfortunately, Daley's friendly advice for the GOP is nothing more than one more instance in a series of thinly veiled attacks on the Founding Fathers and the Constitution. It should not go unnoticed that moderates are counted among Daley’s allies in that assault.