Demagogue

It's a question that Jacob Weisberg ponders in his column at Slate.com. Very interesting.

My hope is that the Dems come within a couple of seats of taking both the Senate and the House, but fare no better than that.

Why? First, the Democratic Party has run a lousy campaign (in terms of message and platform) and doesn't deserve to win. Dem leaders have totally forgotten about the corruption issue that supposedly mattered to them once. Obviously, that talk about the "culture of corruption" was simply one of several talking points that the DNC has since replaced. They have no real new ideas. Nothing about a Marshall Plan to achieve energy independence. They have little to say about Iraq other than things are "really messed up" over there. No shit.

Second, gaining ground in both Houses will help to hold Czar Dubya in check, while still allowing Dems to run in 2008 against a fully "GOP-controlled" government. By then, perhaps the Dems will have sprouted a backbone.