<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.2800.1170" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV><A href="http://www.motherjones.com/news/dbriefing/2003/22/we_423_05.html">http://www.motherjones.com/news/dbriefing/2003/22/we_423_05.html</A></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><A name=two>Dems Need A Strong-backed Stance </A></DIV> With the 2004 Presidential election looming up ahead, despairing supporters of the Democratic party decry that <A href="http://www.workingforchange.com/article.cfm?itemid=15064&CFID=7531155&CFTOKEN=54685953" target=new>the Dems of today couldn't outrace a Republican if he were hog-tied and running backward</A>. The problem, pundits pontificate, has to do with the Dems' inability to grow any one of a number of essential anatomical pieces that colloquially symbolize courage. Syndicated columnist Arianna Huffington writes: <BLOCKQUOTE>"The Party leaders are so timid, spineless, and lacking in confidence that to compare them to jellyfish would be an insult to invertebrates."</BLOCKQUOTE> <A href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2003/05/14/national2104EDT0848.DTL" target=new>Backbone. Wherever has it gone?</A> And, more importantly, why has it gone? Former President and self-named "comeback kid" Bill Clinton told the Associated Press that Democrats stand to do well in the coming election if and only if they "stop fighting among themselves and refocus their criticism on their eventual foes -- President Bush and the Republicans." The critics' consensus seems to be that <A href="http://www.prospect.org/webfeatures/2003/05/tomasky-m-05-28.html" target=new>the Democratic Party has relieved Republican strategists of their work</A> by poking holes in each others' arguments. While Democratic centrists and moderates vie for voter support, the GOP's PR geniuses chuckle away amongst their spitwads and paper fighter jets. Michael Tomasky of The American Prospect writes of the intra-party factions: <BLOCKQUOTE>"Honestly and honorably, they have very different ideas about what the Democratic Party should be and where it should go. They should present those ideas to voters in a competitive fashion. But they should not be providing fodder, and entertainment, for [Bush adviser] Karl Rove. "[T]he two factions have to behave less like factions and more like people who are fighting a common enemy."</BLOCKQUOTE> Reporters with their eyes on the polls say that most voters side with the Democrats' stances on health care, gun control, abortion, the environment, and most other issues. The perceived base of support for the Republican Party stems not from widespread voter mentality, but rather from a very vocal and radical minority, or, as Tomasky puts it: <BLOCKQUOTE>"The Republican Party is ideologically homogeneous because the conservative movement has taken ownership of it. But the Democratic Party is, and will remain for a while, a heterogeneous party."</BLOCKQUOTE> Columnists and the constituency call for the Democratic Party to risk alienating one or more of the small subgroups within its' voter base and to take a clear stand on the nations' most pressing issues. Otherwise, Dems will be seen as fearing a President who is only admirable in his ability to act with disregard for what the general populace thinks. Perhaps Democrats could stand to learn from Bush -- or at least some Texas legislators. <A href="http://www.newsday.com/news/opinion/ny-vpjen283303668may28,0,2743247.story?coll=ny%2Dviewpoints%2Dheadlines" target=new>Take cues from the Dems in the Lone Star State</A>, urges Newsday's Robert Jensen: <BLOCKQUOTE>"If you want to be something more than Karl Rove's doormat, keep more of an eye on Texas in the coming months than on the polls. Taking risks might prove to be politically effective. And even if it doesn't win votes in the short term, it will win back some self-respect."</BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>