Great read.

[ballaratocker]

http://www.commondreams.org/views06/1112-22.htm

Reagan Era Is over: Are Democrats Ready?
by Jeff Faux

After World War I a French general was asked how one beats the Germans. "Retreat and retreat," was the reply, "and wait for the German mistake."

Last week, the Democrats recaptured the Congress by waiting for the Republicans to make enough mistakes to defeat themselves. With Karl Rove's once-fearsome blitzkrieg bogged down in a catastrophe in Iraq, with incompetence in New Orleans and with corruption in Washington, Democrats were the default option for disgusted voters.

That the Democratic Party doesn't stand for a clear alternative program is a political cliche, and a source of frustration for those liberals who think of themselves as the "Democratic wing of the Democratic Party."

Yet history teaches us that watershed elections - those that change the fundamental direction of the nation - are typically a result of voter rejection of the "ins" rather than the appeal of the ''outs." Franklin Roosevelt's election in 1932 - preceded by Democratic congressional gains in 1930 - was a reaction to Herbert Hoover's handling of the Great Depression. Ronald Reagan's victory in 1980 - foreshadowed by Republican gains in the 1978 congressional election - resulted from voter unhappiness with Jimmy Carter's stagflating economy and the humiliation of American hostages held in Iraq.
<Snip>
Sorry I couldn't find the original article. This sums up exactly how I feel. Time to strike while the iron is hot!

[DRoseDARs]

1. "...and the humiliation of American hostages held in Iraq." What?!

Erm, it was Iran.

[ballaratocker]

2. Yeah, I noticed that as well.

Since he quoted the rest accurately, I will pass it off as a Freudian slip.

[DRoseDARs]

3. To be clear, it was Jeff Faux's (the article's author's) slip, not ballaratocker's. n/t