"The conflict goes well beyond Capitol Hill. The failure of congressional leaders to deliver a clear message has left some Democratic governors deeply frustrated and at odds with Washington Democrats over strategy.It may just be me (though probably not) but the Dems are likely struggling to develop a clear agenda because they aren't focused on one - they are focused on Bush and the GOP Congress and the perceived and alleged or overbloated scandals. If item #1 on their agenda is to tell the voters how bad Bush is and how corrupt the Congress is, then THAT IS NOT AN AGENDA, at least not a positive agenda anyway. It is simply the same old crap we've been hearing from the Dems since 2001. Nothing new there. If the Democrats want to be successful, they have to be FOR something positive that voters want, and when I say "FOR" something, I mean something other than being "FOR" the impeachment of the president.
Party leaders, for example, have yet to decide whether Democrats should focus on a sharply negative campaign against President Bush and the Republicans, by jumping on debacles such as the administration's handling of the Dubai port deal -- or stress their own priorities and values."
This may be oversimplifying things a bit, but the I believe that the Dems are in between a rock and hard place. They know what they are for: higher taxes, more government regulation, including govt run health care, an judicial imposition of unlimited abortion rights and gay marriage, and the UN running US foreign policy. They also know that the voters don't want those things, so they have to choose between hiding what they truly believe, which makes them seem fake when they run for office, or running for office as the anti-Bush, who, for all his problems, at least has a positive agenda. You can't be something with nothing. That's their problem.
