Letter from Washington

The government has moved to Santa Barbara and Martha’s Vineyard to escape Washington’s sweltering dog days. Included in the exodus was an intrepid band of Democrats who dub themselves the Democratic Leadership Council (DLC). In mid-August, key members of the council descended on California, where they conferred with high-tech CEOs (Silicon Valley) and held fundraisers and press conferences (San Francisco, Los Angeles, Santa Monica). Arizona governor and council co-chairman Bruce Babbitt, who led the expedition, described its twofold purpose as “to chart a new course for a great political party” and “to ignite a nationwide debate on international trade.” Babbitt was generous with his criticism of the GOP: “Republicans seem blind to the consequences of losing in trade,” he stated, citing “a declining manufacturing base, the loss of our technological edge, the export of U.S. jobs overseas, and a lower standard of living for all Americans.”

California is the locus of the DLC swing because that is “where the nation’s economic future is unfolding,” said Babbitt, and “where the cutting edge of political change is occurring.” Virginia Governor Charles Robb and Missouri Representative Dick Gephardt (who is the other DLC co-chairman) accompanied Babbitt.

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The government has moved to Santa Barbara and Martha’s Vineyard to escape Washington’s sweltering dog days. Included in the exodus was an intrepid band of Democrats who dub themselves the Democratic Leadership Council (DLC). In mid-August, key members of the council descended on California, where they conferred with high-tech CEOs (Silicon Valley) and held fundraisers and press conferences (San Francisco, Los Angeles, Santa Monica). Arizona governor and council co-chairman Bruce Babbitt, who led the expedition, described its twofold purpose as “to chart a new course for a great political party” and “to ignite a nationwide debate on international trade.” Babbitt was generous with his criticism of the GOP: “Republicans seem blind to the consequences of losing in trade,” he stated, citing “a declining manufacturing base, the loss of our technological edge, the export of U.S. jobs overseas, and a lower standard of living for all Americans.”

California is the locus of the DLC swing because that is “where the nation’s economic future is unfolding,” said Babbitt, and “where the cutting edge of political change is occurring.” Virginia Governor Charles Robb and Missouri Representative Dick Gephardt (who is the other DLC co-chairman) accompanied Babbitt.