Al From, the CEO of the Democratic Leadership Council, sounds like he could be a spokesman for the Republican administration of Jane Swift. James Carville has become more of an entertainer than a political strategist. And the Democrats still haven’t found a post-Clinton direction. All that was evident at a Kennedy School Institute of Politics forum last week.

To debate the future of the Democratic Party, the Institute gathered From, Carville, Representative Barney Frank of Massachusetts, Representative Ellen Tauscher of California, and moderator David Nyhan, formerly a Boston Globe political columnist. What emerged is that, while the Democrats will unite for this year’s battle to retake the House, their national prospects going into 2004 may suffer from internal divisions over trade, race, and regionalism.

It was difficult to distinguish the beliefs of From — a native Southerner who puts the mission of moving the Democratic Party to the center at the top of his agenda — from those of a typical Massachusetts Republican, such as Swift. From criticized the national Republican party for its lack of "cultural tolerance," noting that "where the Republicans kill themselves is their cultural conservatism." But that’s a hard argument to make in Massachusetts, where the current Republican governor is pro-choice and has selected a gay man, former Melrose mayor Patrick Guerriero, as her running mate. Where From’s DLC differs with Swift is in its opposition to grandiose tax-cutting schemes, such as those supported by both President George Bush and the Massachusetts governor.

On the topic of trade, Frank, who favors some protectionist policies, took issue with From, Tauscher, and even Carville. As Carville pointed out, "If Gore had been protectionist, we would have lost Washington, Oregon, and California in exchange for West Virginia."

The former Clinton strategist drew the ire of one African-American audience member by answering a question about passenger profiling at airports with a quip about race. It’s "the only time in history it pays to be a black male," Carville said. The student challenged the panel, saying, "We’re talking about the future of the Democratic Party. The issue of race didn’t get brought up until it became a joke." Frank replied that African-Americans will benefit greatly if the Democrats retake the House because many black legislators, such as Charles Rangel of New York and John Conyers of Michigan, will take leadership positions and committee chairs.

From, for his part, questioned whether the Democrats can field a successful presidential candidate who is not from the South. Aside from Franklin Roosevelt, the only Northern Democrat to win a majority of the popular vote was New York’s Samuel Tilden (who nonetheless lost the contested 1876 election to Rutherford B. Hayes), From observed. "You can’t write off the South," he stated, implying that a Southern candidate must be chosen. "You need to win the South."

Whatever the popularity of his policy positions, Carville certainly won the comedy crown. When Nyhan quipped that Joe Klein’s new book about President Bill Clinton ought to be called Clinton from the Waist Up, Carville retorted with a reference to former General Electric chief Jack Welch, whose new book is called Straight from the Gut. "The new Jack Welch book will be called Straight from the Groin," said Carville, alluding to reports of Welch’s fling with the editor of the Harvard Business Review.