Andrew Zajac
Hoping to steal a march on Republicans on national security, a group of centrist Democrats has launched the Progressive Security Project, aimed at helping their party frame the defense-foreign policy debate.
The project is the brainchild of the Progressive Policy Institute, which hopes to capitalize on what it perceives as a narrowing of the credibility gap on national defense with Republicans during the Bush years.
Since at least the late 1960s, Democrats have tended to lag well behind Republicans when it comes to which party the public thinks does a better job of keeping them safe from foreign threats.
But with no end in sight in the Iraq war, unrest in Pakistand and indications that the lid is coming off the Taliban in Afghanistan, the PPI sees an opening.
It prescribes not new medicine, but a renewed embrace of "tough-minded liberalism of presidents Roosevelt, Truman, Kennedy and Clinton."
The PPI may have a tough time selling the notion that Clinton belongs with the other three Democratic presidents it cites. But it was a Clinton wonk shop for years and many advisors to the former president have roosted there.
It will be interesting to see if and how the Obama supporters in the organization assert themselves.
Here's what the security project is trying to accomplish, in its own words:Download file
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Comments
Centrist Democrats - both of them?
This comes from an organization the "Progressive" Policy Institute. Progressive - the liberals' word for "liberal".
They use Clinton as an example of "tough-minded" on handling the Islamic terrorist. LMAO. The last democrat on their list is 45 years removed from office and since JFK was tough minded on defense and a supply-sider, he would probably be a Republican if he were alive today. JFK's policies were further right on the political spectrum than Joe Liberaman, and we saw what happened to the him with loon fringe of the democratic party.
Posted by: Terry | April 6, 2008 12:23 PM
The Progressive Policy Institute is one of the many front groups Senator Clinton controls through John Podesta.This not surprising she calls it progressive code for liberal socialist. Nothing new here. Jerry White, Springfield, IL
Posted by: Jerry White | April 6, 2008 1:55 PM
It prescribes not new medicine, but a renewed embrace of "tough-minded liberalism of presidents Roosevelt, Truman, Kennedy and Clinton."
The PPI may have a tough time selling the notion that Clinton belongs with the other three Democratic presidents it cites.
Well, at least they had enough sense to leave out the truly unremarkable Jimmy Carter.
Posted by: Scott - Houston, Tx | April 7, 2008 11:21 AM