Pelosi team tries to steer Democrats to the center (Boston Globe)

[Eugene]

Pelosi team tries to steer Democrats to the center
Wary of plans by House liberals

By Rick Klein, Globe Staff | November 21, 2006

WASHINGTON -- Anxious to chart a centrist course with Democrats' new majority
in Congress, incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her top deputies are busily
working in private and public to rein in the liberal ambitions of some senior
party heavyweights --including proposals to reinstate the military draft and end
the Pentagon's ban on gays in uniform.

Pelosi has urged House Democrats, including incoming committee chairmen, to use
the first weeks of next year's congressional term to focus exclusively on proposals
on which the party is unified and legislative goals that are within reach, according
to Pelosi allies and aides.

-snip-

Already, House Democratic leaders have extracted a promise from the incoming
chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, Representative John Conyers Jr.
of Michigan, to rule out impeaching President Bush. Conyers is the lead sponsor
of a bill that would investigate whether to recommend "grounds for possible
impeachment."

-snip-

Pelosi and Hoyer outlined an agenda yesterday for early next year that Pelosi
said will relieve "the middle-class squeeze." It avoids hot-button issues such
as tax cuts, gay rights, and abortion for popular issues such as a higher minimum
wage, more affordable student loans, and congressional ethics reform.

-snip-

Full article: http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2006/11/21/pelosi_team_tries_to_steer_democrats_to_the_center

[aquart]

1. Tax cuts, gay rights, and abortion are left wing issues?

Who knew?

[OzarkDem]

4. They're "wedge" issues

easily and gleefully exploited by the GOP and news media.

Tax cuts probably doesn't belong in that quote (more news media spin), Pelosi and Reid have already talked about acting on tax relief for middle class families.

[Kolesar]

2. An illegal war and the atmosphere is being destroyed--let's work on student loans

In all fairness, this reads like another poorly-researched article that the author wrote in his living room after watching an hour or two of CNN.

[OzarkDem]

5. Agree, they won't report it accurately

The news media isn't interested in talking about issues Dems are really making a priority. Here's hoping Pelosi, Reid and Dean can get a unified media strategy going to force them to cover Congressional Dems accurately.

[drm604]

3. Notice how they lump the draft in with "liberal ambitions".

They make it sound like a draft is popular among liberals. :banghead:

[TechBear_Seattle]

6. And this is why so many of us on the left are very disappointed with the Democrats

Today's "center" is far to the right of where it was 20 years ago, and the Democrats keep pushing it farther to the right.