Krugman is right, but he doesn't go far enough. Democrats shouldn't become GOP-lite (speaking of which, would Howard Dean ever have asked for a 'time of healing'? - you're damn right he wouldn't!). Democrats need to keep up the intensity and to attack attack attack!
But they also need to create a rival intellectual infrastructure to lend coherence, direction, and a long-term perspective to the attacks. Anything less will continue to be haphazard and rudderless. It doesn't matter how many screw-ups Dubya makes (as we have just seen) if there is no coherent story available to explain why they were not just happenstance but rather natural a outgrowth of his 'Moralist-Leninism.' Only an organized and funded intellectual/broadcast counter-establishment can do that for us.
"Rather than catering to voters who will never support them, the Democrats - who are doing pretty well at getting the votes of moderates and independents - need to become equally effective at mobilizing their own base.
In fact, they have made good strides, showing much more unity and intensity than anyone thought possible a year ago. But for the lingering aura of 9/11, they would have won.
What they need to do now is develop a political program aimed at maintaining and increasing the intensity."
different voices
10 years ago