Thomas Friedman wrote in The New York Times recently that Iraqis can’t be having a civil war because they’re not sufficiently organized to have one. But I suspect my fellow Democrats are. And next year’s Raleigh elections may be the first battle of that war.

There are two very different schools of thought in the Democratic Party today:

• The left, personified by Nancy Pelosi and many House Democrats. It’s pro-labor, pro-trial lawyer, skeptical of globalization and suspicious of business.

• The center, personified by Steny Hoyer and many other House Democrats. It’s growth-oriented, pro-trade, even pro-business.

The split is not just in the House of Representatives.

It’s in the presidential race. Hillary Clinton, like Bill, in the center, and John Edwards on the left.

It’s right here in North Carolina. The Hunt-Basnight-Easley tradition in the center, and restive progressives on the left.

And the split could play out right here in Raleigh next year.

Raleigh has become a reliably Democratic city, so any races for Mayor and City Council will be between Democrats.

You’ve got Joyce Kekas and Jessie Taliaferro in the center and Thomas Crowder and Russ Stephenson on the left.

And you have Mayor Charles Meeker trying to find his way between the two.

These two visions of the Democratic future could collide next year, with long-term implications for the city.

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