For those who may not know, the DLC is the centrist Democrat group that promoted Bill Clinton as a potential party leader as early as 1988. Now they're trying to keep California Democrats from going off the rails by giving them a major reality check. After acknowledging the right-wing origins of the recall, it tells them

[I]t's clear the success of the recall effort was no mere right-wing conspiracy. Californians are deeply frustrated by what they perceive as a political establishment -- in both parties -- that's not listening to their concerns, acting on their needs, or paying much attention to anyone who does not belong to a bedrock partisan constituency group.

Then they warn some of the radical elements of the party against following through on threats made on Election Night:

There's already talk of Democrats going to the mattresses, denying cooperation to the Governor-elect, or even launching petitions to immediately recall the recall winner. That would be a big mistake. They should instead hold him to his vague promises, and hold him strictly accountable for his performance. Governors have to make choices, and the most important choice Schwarzenegger will face is whether to govern the only way he can succeed -- from the center -- or curry favor with the right wing and fail.

They wind up making the same point I made earlier today (obviously before I did, but I just read this) about re-enfranchising moderates through an open primary, and even provide a link to another essay on their site which expands on their arguments. (via No Left Turns)

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