Democrats must learn from loss By Matthew Miller

There are other lessons. Democrats may simply need to have a governor atop the ticket; a senator may never be marketable as an executive leader. Democrats sure need a good Southerner. But above all, Democrats need ideas.

Think about it. By 2008 we will have had 40 years of GOP presidents broken only by Southern governor Jimmy Carter (a post-Watergate fluke) and Southern governor Bill Clinton (a rare force of nature). During this time American politics have drifted dramatically to the right, to the point where Richard Nixon’s combined plans for universal health coverage and a minimum family income is now far too “liberal” for John Kerry to have supported in 2004.

Showing how progressive goals are consistent with American values, bolstering the party’s security agenda in an age of terror, reframing the language and means with which Democrats propose to solve the problems of ordinary Americans – all this, as with Clinton in 1992, will mean challenging some ancient doctrines and interest groups in order to reach out to more Americans with real answers.

It’s a tall order. And it’s hard to see how the current Democratic establishment – which, after all, has presided over these losses and the rightward drift of the country – is up to the task.

Forty years of Republican presidents and we’re not doing so bad. Much of the world hates us or thinks we’re insane. We’re headed towards bankruptcy. We’re ready to shred the Constitution. There’s a record to run on in 2008! mjh