Free Republic

Jamelle BouieJanuary 7, 2017 Michael Wear, who led faith outreach efforts for Barack Obama’s 2012 campaign, believes the Democratic Party has a religion problem, and in an interview with the Atlantic , he sketched it out. “[T]here’s a religious illiteracy problem in the Democratic Party,” he said. “It’s tied to the demographics of the country: More 20- and 30-year-olds are taking positions of power in the Democratic Party. They grew up in parts of the country where navigating religion was not important socially and not important to their political careers.” For Wear, the party needs to develop a comfort with...

Since last November’s elections, Democratic leaders have been asserting that, despite the hostile rhetoric of their rank and file, they view trade openness and engagement as indispensable to U.S. economic and security objectives. That with some accommodation of Democratic priorities on labor and environmental issues, the administration and Congress can work together to advance a bipartisan trade agenda. The credibility of those assertions is about to be tested. The recently concluded but yet-to-be ratified U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement will reveal whether the Democratic congressional leadership can be trusted to continue the time-tested tradition of promoting economic growth through liberalized trade....

Democrats aren't scrambling to endorse recommendations of the bipartisan Iraq Study Group, a tactic that largely leaves President Bush alone to salvage the war. Instead, the party that will control Congress in January plans to focus on stepped-up oversight of Bush's plans for the war. Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., who will take over the Armed Services Committee, says he'll hold three hearings on Bush's plans for Iraq and is prepared to subpoena documents to review past missteps. Democrats also are eyeing ways to attach conditions to war funds that won't hurt troops and may even attract Republican support. Sen. Robert...