Clearly there has never been an election that was more clearly a mandate on anything than the 2006 election. No one “broke for” the Democrats in 2006 because of all those meaningless promises they made. Many of us unaffiliateds did not miss the fact that most Democrats weren’t exactly campaigning their hearts out on the war…they don’t want to stop it much more than Bush does. Fine, then we’ll all vote third party next time around and see how the Big Two like that.

The only “dangerous dynamic” the Dems face is this kind of drivel, designed to unnerve them when they are finallly showing a wee bit of…well, something perceivably less than gutlessness. As far as I’m concerned, the only reason they aren’t doing well in the polls is because their efforts to stop this insane and immoral occupation of another country have been about as lame as they thought they could get away with and still feel safe walking the streets at night. But if this war is still going strong come November 2008, both the Democrats and the Republicans are going to find voting booths to be very dangerous places indeed.

As a dedicated anti-partisan, the only upside I can see to this unspeakable tragedy is that the upshot of it may be that the party system finally crashes and burn of its own stupidity and corruptness. Can’t happen soon enough, IMO.

Most voters realize that the war in Iraq is based on a stack of lies, and it is the embodiement of what has upset moderate voters for decades: throwing money at a problem that has no solution.

Pundits have not gotten this yet.

Bill Clintons Popularity actually went up when he was impeached. Is that what the Democrats want?

Hillary is a turnoff and Obama sounds good, but has been careful not to provide substance on paticular issues.

hopefullt, the cream will come to the top

The first is that approval ratings for Congress are declining again, less than three months after the Democrats took control.

Can quite simply be understood in the ever increasing awareness of voters that the congress does nothing and has embarked on a massive witch hunt. Despite what many believe, the ordinary citizen of America does not care for witch hunts and does not care to punish the GOP for its transgressions.

I’m not disagreeing as to whether or not the general feels this way, certainly it’s a common enough GOP talking point. But I find it very convenient that a criticism contains its own response.

After three whole months in office the slim Democratic majorities in congress have failed to solve the problems of endemic poverty, the healthcare crisis, and established world peace?

Jeez.

Instead they’re bogged down in “witch hunts”.

But perhaps we detect the beclawed hand of Karl Rove. By creating an administrative bureaucracy rife with incompetents, and engineering Republican congressional majorities that, for 6 years, turned a blind eye to that incompetence, he’s been setting the Democrats up to fail.

The wiley bastard.

Meanwhile, I agree with Elrod. Over the next several months I fully expect any number of bills addressing bread and butter issues to reach the president’s desk.

Also, as Joe points out, Democrats, rather than having no ideas to offer, now have too many. I agree, but would point out that once Democrats pick a presidential nominee that diffusion of ideas should become much more focused.

In that sense the front-loading of the nomination elections could work to Democrats’ advantage, giving the nominee ample opportunity to put together a cohesive policy package and then sell it to the country.

As for the bread-and-butter issues like minimum wage, I would be surprised if the Dems don’t get them fully passed. If not, they have a perfect campaign issue for the Presidential race in 2008.

Re: the Presidential race, the Republicans have the odd problem that their superstars are either hated or distrusted in the party. I suspect that Giuliani’s bubble is starting to burst – look at how much Fred Thompson took away from him in two weeks. And now the Bernard Kerik revelations will hurt him even more. I bet that by July, Rudy is reduced again to about 15% support among the GOP faithful. Fred Thompson may be a flash in the pan himself. A Q-Poll showed him getting crushed in the general by Hillary. I wouldn’t be surprised if Republicans commit suicide by nominating Gingrich.

On the Dem side, things got a bit more interesting with the Edwards cancer issue. Obama and Hillary have hurt each other a bit, but I suspect that to continue throughout the campaign. The fundamental issue there is that Hillary is at her ceiling and Obama is not. Obama is the most transformational figure in the entire race. As long as Democratic establishment types keep drifting toward Obama, he may end up with the nomination. If he gets the nomination, he wins the general. His negatives are very low with a lot of unknowns. Hillary has no unknowns. And Obama will co-opt many moderate Republican voters looking for a change. Hillary will do the opposite.

Can quite simply be understood in the ever increasing awareness of voters that the congress does nothing and has embarked on a massive witch hunt. Despite what many believe, the ordinary citizen of America does not care for witch hunts and does not care to punish the GOP for its transgressions.

It simply wants work to be accomplished and it views these witch hunts as Political Infighting which does not in one single way help welfare moms, poor workers, healthcare or any of the dozens of “fixes” the ordinary Joe wants to see in his lifetime.

I know many of you cannot fathom that. But I do essentially believe that to be the basic truth that guides most people. Politics is not a religion for them. It is not a way of life, nor is it an obsession in which they scour the websites and magazines and newspapers and read books to find any and every source to support their conclusion that one side or the other is “evil” and as quickly as humanly possible must be smote.

However the Democrats have taken office and are doing the exact same thing they bemoaned the GOP of doing. Nothing. Already their house of cards is beginning to vibrate in the face of the powerful winds of change.

The voters are much smarter then you give them credit for. They understand that for every Bill Clinton, Richard Nixon or George Bush you “gotcha” there is a thousand nay a million waiting to take their place because you cannot defeat an ideal, a belief, a way of life.

The winds of change is blowing over the land and the voters are demanding tolerance and unification. The more the political parties realize this the more polarized they are becoming because they “do not want to change.” They do not want to confront their own beliefs as in error or in need of a major reworking. The winds of change are blowing and the voters are speaking. If the democrats refuse to change their “Old tired ways” they too will be voted out until someday the politicians finally “get it”

The voters do not want Democratic Ideals. They want change. They want something new because its obvious to them that the old ways have not worked. For either Party.

The Republicans have no chance of winning majorities in the House or Senate but, instead, will continue to lose seats. The same goes for state houses.

I also found it odd that the article never mentioned raced. One of the great successes of the Democrats is to increase turnout of blacks and hispanics, two groups that vote overwhelmingly for them. If you wonder why Gen-y votes democratic, it is more likely because it is the least white generation ever instead of some massive switch in voting patterns within groups.