Dems Rue Clues They May Lose Anew

You can't beat something with nothing:

Asked to describe the health of the Democratic Party, Senator Christopher J. Dodd of Connecticut, the former chairman of the Democratic National Committee, said: "A lot worse than it should be. This has not been a very good two months."

"We seem to be losing our voice when it comes to the basic things people worry about," Mr. Dodd said.

Democrats said they had not yet figured out how to counter the White House's long assault on their national security credentials. And they said their opportunities to break through to voters with a coherent message on domestic and foreign policy — should they settle on one — were restricted by the lack of an established, nationally known leader to carry their message this fall.

As a result, some Democrats said, their party could lose its chance to do to Republicans this year what the Republicans did to them in 1994: make the midterm election, normally dominated by regional and local concerns, a national referendum on the party in power.

"I think that two-thirds of the American people think the country is going in the wrong direction," " said Senator Barack Obama, the first-term Illinois Democrat who is widely viewed as one of the party's promising stars. "They're not sure yet whether Democrats can move it in the right direction."

Mr. Obama said the Democratic Party had not seized the moment, adding: "We have been in a reactive posture for too long. I think we have been very good at saying no, but not good enough at saying yes."

Complaining and kvetching is not, last time I checked, a coherent political platform.

Newt Gingrich's 1994 Contract with America did not read:

1) Bitch

2) Moan

3) Go into hysterics

4) Jump on top of a table and begin screeching "I think I saw a mouse"

5) Have a full-on conniption fit

6) Raise taxes

7) Help terrorists evade government surveillance

Who is the Dems' target audeince lately? Whom do they think these unhinged theatrics are going to persuade? Nathan Lane in The Birdcage?

posted by Ace at 11:53 AM

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