"Democrats' chronic impotence led to the Republicans' reign of incompetenc

[rodeodance]

I tried finding the article with goggling but unable to. Looks to be interesting.

http://select.nytimes.com/gst/tsc.html?URI=http://select.nytimes.com/2006/01/18/opinion/18dowd.html&OQ=thQ26emcQ3Dth&OP=53002e0Q2F5CQ23Q3A5H,Q3EmmH5lzzA5ze5e!5mQ22Q27JQ27mJ5e!Q60mCQ60nYHiZ
Looking for a Democratic Tough Guy, or Girl
By MAUREEN DOWD
Published: January 18, 2006

The Democrats' chronic impotence led to the Republicans' reign of incompetence.

To continue reading this article, you must be a subscriber to TimesSelect.

[aquart]

1. Times Select sure makes me feel impotent.

[ClintonTyree]

2. Will that be the '06 and '08 election slogan for the Dems?

"We're not as bad as the Republicans". :eyes: It's time for the Democratic Party to STAND for something, a clearly defined difference between us and them. Democrats, supposed "Liberals", resemble Nixon Republicans now. Our Party has drifted so far to the right we're indistinguishable from Republicans on most issues.

It's time for the Democrats to "grow a pair" and they must start with Scalito.

[rodeodance]

3. They started this week--GORE, HIL and then KERRY.

[Demeter]

4. After 7 years of Us Pleading With Them, Not to Mention the 8 Years

they walked all over Clinton. Big deal, I'm impressed. Talk about high pain threshholds!

[Captain Hilts]

5. "Grow a pair" of what? nt

[depakid]

6. The obligatory four paragraphs

Looking for a Democratic Tough Guy, or Girl

....Two of them, who could have stopped W. and Dick Cheney before they undid 230 years of American democracy, didn't, because they allowed themselves to be painted as girlie men. The other, a manly girl, has been so cautious and opportunistic about weighing in on everything from Schiavo to Alito and Iraq that when she finally sang out on Monday and railed against W., she sounded more soprano than basso profundo.

It was easy for the Republicans to play their usual gender games and dismiss the three Democrats as whiny, shrill and ineffectual.

After Mr. Gore and Senator Clinton went on the attack, Scott McClellan rebutted: ''I think we know one tends to like or enjoy grabbing headlines. The other one -- sounds like that the political season may be starting early.'' He rubbed Mr. Gore's nose in the fact that he is not the president fighting the terrorists, noting: ''If he wants to be the voice for Democrats on this debate over national security, we welcome it.''

To lead, and not just conduct campaigns that parrot the liberal elite's editorial pages, you have to shape your own identity and political destiny. And ever since the 2000 race, the Democrats have let Republicans caricature them as effeminate. The Democrats have let the G.O.P. give them their shape, and it's an hourglass.

[rodeodance]

8. and more----"Warrants are for sissies"

......http://www.topplebush.com/oped2473.shtml

Al Gore, belatedly perhaps, made an uncharacteristically bold move. He made the completely valid point that "the president of the United States has been breaking the law, repeatedly and insistently."

"To eavesdrop on American citizens without a warrant, imprison American citizens on his own declaration, kidnap and torture, then what can't he do?" he told an audience on Monday, denouncing Bush's power grab. He warned Republicans that they should be wary of setting these extralegal precedents because someday a leader with values abhorrent to them could put all that power to use.

Mr. Cheney, lumbering around in unreality, continues to be unapologetic as the chorus of Democratic complaints gets louder. Above the law is exactly where he wants to be. Even when he can easily - and retroactively - get snooping warrants, he doesn't want their stinking warrants. Warrants are for sissies.



Yeah. But not necessarily for the better. Whatever else you can say about the Bush crowd, they stick to their guns, even when they can't shoot straight.

[txaslftist]

7. Yeah, yeah, yeah... More GOP talking points.

They steal two presidential elections, and we blame ourselves.

"The Democrats are impotent" is a Newt Gingrich created tagline that rank and file Democrats have heard so often that they believe it. Talk about framing issues!

Stop whining and get to work. There's an election coming up. Brooding about what happened in '04 isn't going to help us win it, and it's not going to help us catch the Republicans trying to steal it again.

Gird your loins. Prepare for battle. Become a precinct chair, a county campaign coordinator, a street door to door campaigner.

Just quit echoing and re-affirming GOP talking points!