E. J. Dionne-"Can Democrats Play This Game?" Keep Screaming Folks!

-"Can Democrats Play This Game?"
Kpete: A few democrats already are. This is good advise from E.J. Dionne. The Republican RIGHT have won the battles for the Republicans lately. Why can't the DEMOCRAT Left at least be HEARD. Keep Screaming Folks. People are listening...



Can Democrats Play This Game?

By E. J. Dionne Jr.
Friday, March 17, 2006; Page A19

........

Here's the problem: Feingold and the activists are right that Democrats can't just take a pass on the wiretapping issue, because Bush's legal claims are so suspect -- even to many in his own party. The opposition's job is to raise alarms over potential abuses of presidential power.

But Democrats, unlike Republicans, have yet to develop a healthy relationship between activists willing to test and expand the conventional limits on political debate and the politicians who have to calculate what works in creating an electoral majority.

For two decades, Republicans have used their idealists, their ideologues and their loudmouths to push the boundaries of discussion to the right. In the best of all worlds, Feingold's strong stand would redefine what's "moderate" and make clear that those challenging the legality of the wiretapping are neither extreme nor soft on terrorism.

That would demand coordination, trust and, yes, calculation involving both the vote-counting politicians and the guardians of principle among the activists. Republicans have mastered this art. Democrats haven't.

Turning a minority into a majority requires both passion and discipline. Bringing the two together requires effective leadership. Does anybody out there know how to play this game?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/16/AR2006031601303.html

but some seem to think it is...

Josh Michah Marshall
http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/week_2006_03_12.php#007922

I think I'm with Kevin Drum on this whole Feingold censure thing. It's really not that surprising that not every Democratic senator would want to jump on the bandwagon with this. But I also don't think there's any particular reason to run from it like it's Dem kryptonite or the plague. I've said this before. But I think the bigger problem for Dems is not the things they do but the very public hand-wringing and navel-gazing about how people might react to the things they do.

That doesn't look good. And it doesn't look good because it really isn't good.

President Bush really does deserve to be held accountable for breaking the law and then even more for claiming after the fact that the law actually doesn't apply to him. In constitutional terms, that bogus claim is a very big deal. So 'censure' him. Or don't censure him. But most of all don't get all bent out of shape or whiny about whether it might make some Bush supporter unhappy or might prompt some scold on the WaPo oped page to say tut-tut.

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