The Democrats

I've been disappointed with the Democrats for a long time now and I speak as a registered Democrat. It seems to me that, as a party, we've become "Republican-lite" and, as a result, are losing our collective soul. This point is well made by Robert Kuttner in his Boston Globe article, "Democrats asleep at the wheel".

THE REPUBLICANS just did it again. They pushed through Congress a bankruptcy "reform" bill written by credit card companies. The bill makes it harder for ordinary people crushed by debt (often medical debt) to start anew. It leaves intact dodges used by wealthy people, such as asset-hiding trusts, and the corporate ability to use bankruptcy to slash wages, evade pension responsibilities, and stiff creditors.

There's a larger story here. Time after time, Bush administration policies do real economic harm to ordinary people, yet the Democrats can't seem to turn that reality into winning politics. Why not?

Kuttner goes on to give other examples such as:

Steath tax increases
Surging drug prices
The way children are left behind

He then discusses five reasons why the Democrats are repeatedly falling down on the job and concludes by saying:

Democrats need to challenge Bush on the best strategies to keep Americans safe, but they are not maximizing their advantage on the pocketbook issues where they should be eating Bush's lunch. The one happy exception is Social Security, where Democrats have managed more unity than usual, and they may prevail. There's surely a lesson here.

Surely, indeed.