I wanted to highlight these words from Markos because they reflect my "creeping malaise" (that's a Pink Floyd reference, for all you kiddies out there) lately. I'll snap out of it soon, I know I will. I hope. Will the Democrats?
Democrats in DC think that keeping their mouths shut and letting the country see the GOP debacle in all its glory will earn them dramatic gains. The corrosive consultants whisper in their ears that taking a strong stance will only earn them enemies, galvanize partisan Democrats to turn out. So they remain in relative silence. Heck, even admonishing Dems like Russ Feingold who have the temerity to speak out against the disaster in DC.
But silence doesn't motivate. People ARE seeing that Republicans can't govern. There's no way around that. What they AREN'T seeing is how Democrats will be any different. How they offer change.
The GOP WILL motivate its voters come November. They'll rail on abortion and gays and scary brown people crossing the southern border and how Democrats want to take their Bibles away. And their core supporters will turn out. And Democrats, unless they realize that they need to inspire, will find those huge gains will fail to materialize.
You cannot have leadership without offending someone. Someone once said you could measure Bobby Kennedy's greatness by the number of enemies he had. George Bush and Karl Rove know this, and they don't care who they offend as they seek to inspire and motivate their core supporters.
DC Democrats are afraid to lead. They're afraid to inspire. They're afraid to offend. They're afraid to clearly state their core principles. They're simply afraid.
And that better change soon.
I think it might, but every time I think that Dems have a strategy play going (Alito, censure), I am proven wrong. And I find myself growing vaguely resentful of the Dems on the national level- but that could be because I am projecting my own desires about "leadership" onto them. I assign the values I would like to see. I think we all do it. When they don't articulate who they are and what they stand for, you tend to do it for them in your mind, and that can only lead to disappointment when they don't follow through.
Markos is right about the motivation. It seems we are stuck in perpetual "angst", and can't break out of it. Or maybe that's just me.