Writing on the Murtha-Hoyer battle, the DLC's Ed Kilgore says, "It's not as though Steny has done anything to undermine House Democrats in their criticism of Bush Iraq policies." Really? Wow. I guess it was the other Steny Hoyer who last year attacked Murtha's Iraq announcement in the Washington Post as an idea that "could lead to disaster." I guess it was the other Steny Hoyer who days after that attack, "told colleagues that Pelosi's recent endorsement of a speedy withdrawal [from Iraq] combined with her claim that more than half of House Democrats support her position, could backfire on the party."
Revisionist history knows no bounds in Washington, D.C. And the chief historical revisionists are those desperate souls at corporate front groups like the DLC that are grasping for something - anything - to justify their existence after this year's election.
I know, I know. It's really tough right now for people like Ed Kilgore, Al From, Will Marshall and Bruce Reed. It's depressing for people like them to have to look at the election of anti-Iraq-War economic populists all over the country and figure out ways to claim that the election was a mandate for their tired brand of corporatism. But depression is no excuse for dishonesty - especially when it comes to a race for the second most powerful position in the U.S. House. Steny Hoyer and his K Street Project may be the apple of the DLC's eye, but Democrats deserve to have this leadership election happen in a way that takes into account the real record - not historical revisionism.