<HTML> Dear Doug and Brad, A practical political example of what you guys are talking about maybe the current governors race in Ohio.  Lee Fisher is the democratic candidate, his Republican opponent is Bob Taft of  "the Taft's". Fisher is about 9% or 10% down in the polls;  which this far from election day isn't that bad.  What does Lee do to overtake Taft? My advice to Lee's team goes somthing like this.  The name Taft is almost synonymous with corporate, big money Republicanism and that's what you have to remind people of.  Get across the idea that Taft is the corporate candidate.  That he will be the corporate governor.  You don't have to beat people to death with this; just get the idea out there. The DLC and neo-liberalism are losers. Sincerely, Tom       Brad De Long wrote: <BLOCKQUOTE TYPE=CITE>>>The move to the right is always justified in pragmatic terms, but the DLC >International hasn't really been a stunning success politically. The bloom >is already off the Blairite rose, the Swedish social dems have taken their >worst electoral drubbing in 60 or 70 years, and Clinton's Democrats have >suffered the worst losses at the state and local level in 100 years. The >hell with 'em, I say. > >Doug You can say that the one-step-to-the-left-of-the-center party is making a *mistake* when it shifts right, smelling that that's the way the votes have moved. But if you want to guarantee that it the shift right will *accelerate*, just let the one-step-to-the-left-of-the-center party be defeated--then all of its office-holders and potential office-holders will say: "Gee. There are even more voters to our right than we believed..." Brad DeLong</BLOCKQUOTE>  </HTML>