It's a thing of beauty to see the "new" Democrats ignore their elder statesmen. Lieberman told them what they needed to do, as did Tony Blair, as did Zell Miller, and as has former NYC Mayor Ed Koch. Even former governor Jerry Brown has been ignored by the McAuliffe/Pelosi/Clinton wing of the Democratic Party.
Had the Democrats listened to their above-mentioned elder statesmen, they wouldn't have tried to make every nuance of the Iraq war into a major campaign issue, and they would have stabbed Gray Davis in the heart with a political stake that would have turned Bustamante into an instant Hispanic hero long before the recall even had enough signatures to qualify.
Thankfully, neo-Marxists such as Scheer at the LA Times, Bing, McCauliffe, and their "new" Democrat camp of amatuers are all insisting that mere mud-slinging combined with Gore, Bill Clinton, and the 9 dwarves in full Davis-campaign mode are enough to somehow win over voters who've been burned...even though no current Democrat in power is harping a single new "big idea" of their own.
So let's encourage them to spend more of their money. Hopefully they'll demand a recount or two in California, attempt to get a recall going against Arnold, attempt to impeach Arnold, and heck, maybe they'll even keep taking out their full page ads against Arnold. Go ahead. Let's watch them spend what little money that they have on a governor's race that they lost long ago rather than save that money to perhaps salvage one or two of their impending Senate losses in 2004.
In the meantime, while they are being bitter and perhaps even resorting to violence of one sort or another, we'll continue to take the high ground, offer more and more successful new ideas and programs and foreign policy actions, and keep our money in reserve for the really important elections next year.
No doubt the "new" Democrats will continue to fight every possible fight rather than to pick and choose their battles strategically. No doubt that they will continue to flail about with amatuers such as Terry M in place as their poster child of bitterness and obstructionism. No doubt they will wail about our Partial Birth Abortion ban in public and in the courts. No doubt they will waste their remaining political capital on our judicial appointments.
And no doubt they will lose again against the SB60 referendum in California as well as in the Senate and for the Presidency in 2004.
The new Democrats have destroyed their Party. We could easily start seeing 5% or even 10% defections from the Democrats to the Green Party. If Nader survives the 2004 primary season, he may actually come in 2nd place in some states ahead of the eventual Democratic Party candidate, should the "new" Democrats continue down their current path (and why wouldn't they, as they don't seem capable of admitting their own mistakes - only of blaming others for their woes).