Book Review: "The Plan" (a/k/a the DLC Playbook)

A frequently asked question on Daily Kos is "what is the Democratic Leadership Council, and what does it stand for?" One way to find out is to read The Plan: Big Ideas for America, by Rahm Emanuel and Bruce Reed. Emanuel, the House Democratic caucus chair, was a senior adviser to President Clinton; and Reed is the DLC's president. So The Plan is essentially the DLC playbook.

Emanuel and Reed's agenda can be boiled down to five bullet points:
• A new social contract;
• Ending corporate welfare as we know it;
• Tax reform that benefits those who aren't wealthy;
• A "new strategy" to win the War on Terror; and
• A hybrid economy that cuts America's gasoline use in half.

Unfortunately, both the agenda and the authors' presentation of it are flawed. They stumble out of the gate, drawing a painful contrast between "hacks," who come to Washington because "anywhere else they'd be bored to death," and "geeks," because "nowhere else could they bore so many to death." Time and again, they attempt witty turns of phrase like this, and they usually fall flat.

The authors fall squarely into the category of wonks. They make clear their disdain for George Lakoff and his argument that language makes a big difference in politics. Evidently they've turned a blind eye the damage done by Republican word-weasel Frank Luntz. Predictably, they dismiss Thomas Frank's populist approach to Democratic politics as class warfare. They also proclaim that get-out-the-vote efforts and a ground game aren't the key to success--rather odd arguments for a politician from Chicago to endorse. And they offer this mushy, New Age explanation of why Kerry lost in 2004: he failed to "define ourselves as a nation."

When, then, does win elections? The authors maintain that it comes down to the strength of ideas. Theirs, of course. Some of the ideas in The Plan are hardy perennials: tax breaks for college tuition, portable 401(k)s, and replacing a patchwork of tax credits with a single credit for working families. There are some gems buried inside, such as giving Americans access to health coverage like Congress's plan, shrinking high schools, and putting a bipartisan commission in charge of drawing up House districts to make them more competitive.

However, a streak of nannyism runs through The Plan. To promote better health, they want the government to "insist" that Americans get physical checkups and they'd have companies bully their employees into wellness programs. They even cite school uniforms--a Dick Morris brainchild, by the way--as one of the great successes of the Clinton years.

Emanuel and Reid also trot out the long-time DLC hobby horse of mandatory national service. The latest incarnation would have every young American undergo three months' basic training which, they assure us, will enable them to respond to terrorist attacks and other catastrophes. Even if you don't consider this an unfair tax in kind, or social engineering at its worst, the cost and logistical problems associated with this idea are daunting.

Emanuel and Reed claim they're swinging for the fences, but The Plan is strictly smallball. That is so because they fall into the DLC trap of writing off the truly big ideas as unfeasible. (Republicans, by contrast, fight for their big ideas. Do you think they'd drop Social Security privatization because of negative poll numbers?) The authors' stance on health care is a good example. They propose covering all children, a worthy objective to be sure, but they dismiss universal coverage as too ambitious. Likewise, they shy away from a single-payer system, coming out instead for health-care vouchers.

What's notable about The Plan is what you won't find in it. Immigration, for instance. The authors don't even call for a crackdown on companies who knowingly hire illegal workers, and ignore more divisive issues such as whether to wall off our southern border and how to deal with immigrants who are here but shouldn't be.

Women's issues? The environment? They get the following short shrift: "If it's all right for affluent suburbanites to choose candidates based on abortion rights or the environment, it's insulting to suggest that blue-collar workers are wrong to make faith or conscience, not money, their bottom line." Really? Money is high on working families' list of worries, right behind getting laid off. That list also includes finding affordable family planning and keeping toxic waste out of their communities.

Emanuel and Reed are also silent about the administration's massive power grab. Their prescription for fixing the Patriot Act is a fog of platitudes. Then there's Iraq. They apparently believe that the invasion was a good idea but poorly executed. As to how to get out, they offer this curious advice: "Understandably, Democrats could not resist protesting a scheming, secretive, politically obsessed White House bungling a costly war--even though angry protesters were exactly the opponent this scheming, secretive, politically obsessed White House wanted." So riddle me this: how do you stop a war without speaking out against it?

The Plan calls to mind Paul Waldman's observation that the DLC is a group of policy wonks "who allowed Bill Clinton's victories to convince them that the Third Way is political genius that represents the one true path to enduring Democratic success." Ten years later, they're still convinced of that.