Is the new Democratic pragmatism in CA working?

By Chris Reed | Cal Watchdog

In the late 1980s, after three straight Republican presidential wins in which GOP candidates won 133 of 150 states, the Democratic Leadership Council seized prominence in Democratic policy circles with its centrist reform agenda.

Founded in 1985 by strategist Al From, the DLC thought the bad image of liberalism in the 1980s was well-earned. From’s goal was results-based government activism that understood incentives drove behavior.

Rule No. 1 was that throwing money at problems didn’t have a great history after a quarter-century of Great Society domestic liberalism. If this wasn’t working to solve a problem, try another approach.

Rule No. 2 was to accept the idea that government-centric efforts to address societal issues were not always best — that even Americans who weren’t Reaganites had a skepticism about what government could accomplish, and for good reason.

at Cal Watchdog.

The post Is the new Democratic pragmatism in CA working? appeared first on Watchdog.org.