Democratic Leadership Council
The Democratic Leadership Council is an organization of moderate leaders of the United States Democratic Party which works toward moving the Party toward moderate centrist positions. It is their position that left-wing positions are not politically viable, citing the failed candidacies of George McGovern and Walter Mondale. Bill Clinton, a successful candidate, was active in the organization and is sometimes cited as evidence of the success of their policies. However, it was DLC chairman Joe Lieberman who was the first Democrat to call for Clinton's resignation, following the Monica Lewinsky scandal.
Critics cite DLC-supported measures, such as the Welfare Reform Act, as having the effect of alienating the traditional constituencies of the Democratic Party such as labor and minorities, causing an overall reduction in voter turnout. Some contend that 2000 presidential campaign deadlocked because voters could discern no significant policy difference between George W. Bush and DLC activist Al Gore.
Around the start of primaries in the 2004 presidential campaign, the organization voiced concern that the Democratic contenders might be taking positions too far left of the mainstream. Howard Dean, an early front-runner, was specifically attacked by DLC founder and CEO
