Hillary: It's the American dream, stupid!

Left unguarded by skyrocketing gas prices, rising poverty, decreases in median wage, and the added cost of education, the Republicans were exposed today by Hillary Clinton, Tom Vilsack and a group of Democrats on the issue of sound economics:

"It's the American dream, stupid," said the formerfirst lady in a riff on her husband's successful 1992 campaign mantra —"It's the economy, stupid." Democrat Bill Clinton served two terms inthe White House.

"They're not taking care of America. They'rebankrupting our country and failing to address the problems," the NewYork senator said, citing skyrocketing gas, college and health carecosts and lamenting a GOP "failure to provide Americans with economicsecurity."

"Once again America needs to work for everyonenot just the privileged and the powerful," Clinton said, adding thatDemocrats can be the "change agent" this fall by winning control of theHouse and Senate from Republicans.

"Democrats know we must stop passing on debtto our children and start doing what's best for our country and ourchildren," she said in a speech to moderates attending the annualmeeting of the Democratic Leadership Council, a centrist think tankbest known for helping her husband win the White House in 1992.

On the sidelines, as the DNC and the DCCC battle one another over how funds should be allocated for this November, the centrist DLC (Democratic Leadership Council) is making its move to once again establish itself as a prominent policy voice in the Democratic Party.  Even though the DLC went through a pretty poor stretch between 2001 and 2003, where a lot of its foreign policy stances were in line with President Bush, it is still smart for Hillary to associate herself with a centrist group like that in order to broaden her support among independents.  Also, the DLC issued another report urging Democrats to expand their political base outside urban and inner suburban parts of the country -- which pretty much any Democrat would agree with.

Now back to the issue of the economy.  According to a recent poll, pocketbook issues are the number one concern for voters heading into the November election.  Many, including myself, believe it is absolutely essential for the Democrats to tie energy and economics.  Soaring gas prices impact how much money consumers spend, which in turn hurts small businesses.  So convincing voters that we ought to invest money in alternative energy is a step in the right direction.

But energy isn't everything.  The minimum wage, tuition, Social Security and Medicare -- all of which are cost of living issues -- need to be addressed.  Ever so slowly, the Democrats are beginning to address them.  This DLC event was very important because the Democrats have needed to brand themselves as the pro-family party.  The Republicans can use culture to divide us all they want.  But in the end, it's the economy, stupid.

Click here to read the DLC's new economy blueprint: Saving the American Dream: Bold Ideas for America's Future.

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Other blogs writing about this issue: Democratic Governors Association, Freedom Democrats, Political News.