"Bad ideas beat no ideas everyday and twice on Sunday"

I think that has been the Dem strategy for far too long... to hope the bad ideas by the opposition will be enough to cover up for a lack of a well crafted and clearly communicated narrative of what Dems believe.

That has got to change and damned soon.

Two good analyses in a row, Mr. Soto.

I even think the slur "libruhl" is starting to wear thin on many Americans. No doubt this has as much to do with the incredible droning of the Mighty Right Wurlitzer as the incredible incompetence and meddling of the administration and republi-con led congress.

Thank God! What was that - five posts in a row without holding Dems' feet to the fire?

There's no question that people hate Democrats because Democrats are pussies. It's not because Democrats are politicians, or because they're completely out of power, or even because they've been demonized by a corrupt media for over twenty years. No, people don't trust Dems because Dems don't have the guts to say that everyone else is full of shit and only the far left of the political spectrum has a clue.

Thank God for Steve Soto. The only good Dem is a dead Dem.

-- Paul Wellstone

Surely healthcare should be one of these priorities for the Dems to get out in front of.

The Center for American Progress has a incrementalist proposal on the table for consideration (which it surely deserves):

Overview

and:

A Plan For Extending And Improving Health Coverage

Ezra Klein leads with support for the plan,

and Brad Plumer wants to go directly to single-payer.

Matt Yglesias seems to support the CAP incremental approach but is most interested in the preventive care provisions of the CAP plan.

The low regard the people have for Congress at the moment suggests that an incrementalist approach like CAP's is most likely to resonate with the public and least likely to be mau-maued by the Conservative right.

In either case though, the Dems need to be ahead of the health care wave that will be triggered by quickly forthcoming discussion of Medicare and Medicaid, instead of reacting to whatever silliness BushCo will spring on us.

Mr. Soto,

I usually enjoy your statistical analyses, but I confess you've lost me here. By my reading the Democrats have indeed suffered as overall confidence in Congress has fallen off, but the trends all look good to me. Specifically, the spread has narrowed significantly, Republicans have by far had the largest drop offs, and over the past year Democrats appear to have flattened out.

I agree that now is the time to strike, but then again I always think that. Making the assumption that Democrats must be doing something wrong, however, strikes me as premature. There is an opportunity before us, but it may well be that we are already embarking on the right course with our response on social security and the Schivao case.

No, people don't trust Dems because Dems don't have the guts to say that everyone else is full of shit

Neo-cons and republi-cons are full of shit.

Most of the current crop of Democratic congresspeople came into office when the Party was strong. Numerous Republicans came into power as insurgents.

We need to learn to fight from the position of weakness in which we find ourselves.

Oh, guess who's back? Hi Loyalist, aka, Elbow.

Most of the current crop of Democratic congresspeople came into office when the Party was strong. Numerous Republicans came into power as insurgents.

We need to learn to fight from the position of weakness in which we find ourselves. Mmmm, bomb-throwing.

Stupid internets...

We've got to have media attention first. Alternatives to the noise machane must be strengthened and futher devoloped. Distrust of 'the establishment' leads the opposition party to a condition that while potentially paradigm shifting in the long term has short term peril because 'our leaders' aren't as well known as the governments. And that makes what is more or less a 'first impression' crucail.
Remember economic decisions have moral implications.

I'm not going to sell a candidate here, but we need to start thinking about this and long term planning issues.

One more thought: You can't get where you're going if you don't know where it is.

Excellent Point. I gave several thousand dollars to Dems last year, and my wallet is closed now. Our gutless wonders in congress need to demonstrate some backbone if they want people to support them. I'm sick of them. Of course they go down along with Bush! They're his enablers. They're co-dependents.

Good post. I also cancelled my donations to them after the bankruptcy bill, informing them when they grow a spine I will happily support them again.

Will Rogers, famous story teller and rope ringer once said, " I don't belong to any organized political party, I'm a Democrat". I whole heartedly agree with him, and its why my view of their performance of the last several years is poor. They haven't changed the way their organized as a party in the last 6 decades.

Matt,

You're pushing the edge. In the new fascist America you might find yourself on a watch list. Remember, in some instances a person has no right to a lawyer or trial, and may experience indefinite confinement without a trial. Ain't the new America wunnerful?

I have tired of the ideological divide being played to the hilt. If the Democratic Party ever expects to regain its footing in government, both local and national, it needs to be seen as the party of action that produces results that UNDISPUTABLY improve people's lives.

I would start by enacting energy policy at the local and state level. If the "blue states" (notably NY, IL, MD) and large Democratic municipalities (DC, San Francisco) were to aggressively enact programs with the stated objective of independence from fossil fuels, I believe many Americans would see these as examples of progress on a number of fronts (economic, environmental, and decreased reliance on foreign energy). I would start with the installation of solar systems on all government buildings and provide tax incentives to home owners to install alternative energy systems.

As China and the Third World move rapidly into their Industrial Ages and begin to bid up the prices of the world's limited supply of oil, energy policy will take center stage. (In fact, I wonder if American companies drilling in ANWR wouldn't sell that oil outside the US if they could make more that way...) Democrats need to have a better solution for the masses. Demonstrating to them that renewable alternative energy sources actually work will demonstrate to the American people that the Democrats are not simply the "no" party and have good ideas that will benefit all Americans over the long term.

large Democratic municipalities (DC, San Francisco) were to aggressively enact programs with the stated objective of independence from fossil fuels

That'd be money down a rat hole. You can state objectives until you're blue in the face, and it won't alter that reality.

There's just not a way to produce enough power via windmills, solar, or whatever else.

Except nuclear power, of course.

"Stated objective." LOL.

How about stating an objective for world peace, an end to racism and hatred, or for junk food to not to be fattening?

A local music store had a slogan, "we suck less", A few years ago. Could be ours too. :)

You're pushing the edge. In the new fascist America you might find yourself on a watch list.

Ah, yes. Mr. Watch List, please note that I use the terms "insurgent" and "bomb-throwing" in the metaphoric sense that was originally used to describe Newt Gingrich's congressional uprising.

Good catch, P. Dippy.

A perfect demo of one of the differences between leftists and wrongists.

Steve criticizes the left for not taking some actions, with the intention of spurring said action. Lefties respond with some discussion of what actions to take, the merits or demerits of taking action etc.

The wrongies mindset is that criticism is an assault on their very being, and attack the temerity of the Bloglord for daring to question his compatriots.

The wrongists cannot fathom how questioning somebody is not an attack against them, because in their shallow and tightly sphinctered world, questions are ATTACKS! to be countered, never answered.

To wit: Has little spinning scottie ever actually answered a question at his gaggles? No, I think not. I'm surprised his little head doesn't just burst at the invective thrown his way in those question sessions. How dare those mean reporters question our dear leader?