ANOTHER NAIL IN THE DEMOCRATIC COFFIN – AT 8:19 A.M. ET:  The Democratic Leadership Council, home to centrist Democrats since the Clinton era, is going out of business, as The Politico reports:

The centrist Democratic Leadership Council, which fought and largely won a battle for the soul of the Democratic party in the 1990s, is on the verge of bankruptcy and is closing its doors, its founder, Al From, confirmed Monday.

The group’s decision to “suspend operations” marks the conclusion of a long slide from its peak of relevance in the Clinton era, and perhaps the beginning a battle over its legacy, as the organization’s founders and allies argue that it has been a victim of its own success – and its liberal critics are already dancing on its grave.

“A taproot of contemporary centrist ferment is no longer in business,” said Will Marshall, who co-founded the DLC and its allied think tank, the Progressive Policy Institute. PPI, which Marshall still runs, spun off from the DLC in 2009 and is one of a small handful of self-styled moderate groups seeking the DLC’s mantle as the true home for moderate Democrats.

The DLC more closely represented the Democratic Party as it was during the time of its greatness, a time of decades ago when "national defense" Democrats led the party.  The demise of DLC, for whatever reason, symbolizes once more that the Democratic Party is moving further and further leftward, and toward the sneering elitism of the Nancy Pelosi crowd.

There are those who say that the DLC is no longer needed, since President Obama is moving toward the center.  I'll believe that when I actually see it.

What we hope is that the increasingly leftist Democratic Party will soon be consigned to permanent minority status, incapable of inflicting much harm.  On to 2012.

February 8, 2011