Whither the Denocratic Party?

I was in Washington, Deceit last week for the Take Back America conference sponsored by the Campaign for America's Future. I got to hear Howard Dean utter his line about Republicans never working an honest day in their lives, which so infuriated what passes for the Republican intelligentsia.

(By the way, Dean's biggest applause-getter by far was his call for paper printouts for those newfangled direct recording electronic [DRE ] voting machines. In Texas, although both the Democratic and Republican party platforms call for paper trails, Representative Mary Denny, the chair of the House Elections Committee, singlehandedly killed a bipartisan proposal to institute paper trails.)

Anyway, Dean's comment set off discussion in partisan circles on both the left and the right about whether he was the Right Man at the Right Time for the Democratic Party. He may or may not be, but one thing should be certain: his ultimate utility to the party will not be a function of how well or how poorly he shoots his mouth off.

Chris at the Outside Report has a better idea, or at least one that makes more sense to me these days: explore the gap between Bush's current dismal approval rating and the fact that he won the last election and see what's happening with those people (Chris guesses they're 4-10% of the electorate) who voted for Bush but think the country's Going to Hell in a Handbasket.

Chris' hypothesis -- and I tend to agree with him -- is that Bush would STILL beat John Kerry if the election were held today, and that the Democrats nationally have to figure out why that is. Chris seems to suggest that the solution is in new messengers (John Edwards, Harry Reid, etc.) but I think it's really about new messages. The Democrats are wandering in a philosophical desert these days, letting the Republicans define them and reacting to the Rs' initiatives.