The Revolt of the Sane Democrats

Jacob Weisberg has a piece in Slate that savages the current Democratic Party leadership. [here] He writes:

Pelosi is a conventionally liberal congresswoman from San Francisco who serves as House minority leader. The quite conservative Reid, who comes from a small town in Nevada, is the Senate minority leader. Dean, the former Vermont governor who seemed headed for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2004 until he yodeled in Iowa, is the chairman of the Democratic National Committee. Since assuming their positions, the three of them have shown themselves to be somewhere between useless and disastrous as party leaders. Individually, they lack substance and policy smarts (Pelosi); coherence and force (Reid); and steadiness and mainstream appeal (Dean). Collectively, they convey an image of liberal elitism, disarray, and crabbiness.

Read the whole thing, he really nails these clowns.

Now I happen to agree with him, a more repulsive crew could hardly be imagined, but that's not really important. What does matter is that this hit piece has been launched from the heart of the sane wing of the Democratic Party.

Now consider this:

A group of well-connected Democrats led by former President Bill Clinton aide Harold Ickes is raising millions to start a private firm that plans to compile huge amounts of data on Americans to identify potential Democratic voters.

Democratic National Committee officials reportedly are miffed because they think that’s their job.

Ickes, backed by financier George Soros, acknowledged that the creation of Data Warehouse is in part a vote of no confidence that the Democratic Party is ready to technologically compete with GOPers: “The Republicans have developed a cadre of people who appreciate databases and know how to use them.…”

Read it here.

Hmmm, the Clintons are building their own political machine that essentially parallels that of the Democratic Party. Now just what could they have in mind?

Then there's this.

The WaPo reports:

[Democrat] [l]awmakers and strategists have complained about erratic or uncertain leadership and repeated delays in resolving important issues.

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.

Read it here.

Just what all this portends is not yet clear. Are we heading for a Democrat crack-up? Will the Dems crack before the Republicans? Will either party have a coherent approach to the upcoming elections? Who knows?

What seems most likely at this point for the Democrats is that they will be disappointed in the results of this fall's elections and that outcome will precipitate an all-out internecine conflict. What is more it is likely that the Clinton's will have positioned themselves to be able to pick up the pieces after the inevitable crackup. Will this represent a return to sanity in the Democratic Party leadership? Let us sincerely hope so.

As for the Republicans..., the all-out war has already commenced. Things are really starting to get interesting.

Stay tuned, we've got a wild time ahead of us and I intend to enjoy every second of it.

Parenthetically, is it just me or are the Democrats coming more and more to resemble the Whigs of the 1850's? Just a thought.....