"Why Won't Democrats Fight?"

"This was the plea of one of our listeners today -- why won't Democrats fight? He speaks for hundreds of callers and e-mailers to our show, who are all exasperated that the Democratic Party will not fight for them. Howard Dean didn't get the support of these people because he figured out how to use the internet -- he got the support of these people because he fought back. People are frustrated that the Democratic Party simply does not get the message.

Our listener said it as best and as earnestly as anyone could have. So, here's his e-mail from today. I hope his shout can be heard all the way in Washington:

"I was listening to Nina Totenberg Sunday morning talking about how the best strategy for Democrats on the Roberts nomination would be to just vote for him and fight out the O'Connor replacement.

That's when it it hit me. Democrats are always ready to fight the next battle.
Republicans are the complete opposite. They fight every battle, no matter how large or small. They have Fox News and all the right wing talk shows and half a dozen members of the executive and legislative branch hammer out the same point all day, every day. (Why did the whole country start using terms like "finger pointing" and "blame game", all on the same day? Because Republicans used it over and over.)

Democrats never fight the current battle. When they do bother to fight, well, it's usually only 1 or 2 lone voices. Barbara Boxer will stand up pretty much alone every time, occasionally joined by Lieberman (whom everyone tunes out because he's so boring) or Kennedy. There are no strong voices in the House. You get the occasional lukewarm appearance by Nancy Pelosi or Harry Reid. On those few occasions when Dems do put up half a fight -- as when they asked for *all* the Roberts papers -- they were derided as whiners for not being satisfied with what they had been given already. (It's always some version of "how dare you fight us, you stupid Democrats.") Derided successfully I might add. Those papers were not given, nor are they really being asked for. And today Leahy says "well, ya got me. I guess I'll go ahead and vote for him." Republicans have got to be laughing at how the Dems are so stupid once again.

So what gives? I do not understand the completely opposite approaches, and why Dems continue to follow a strategy that loses every battle. Since when did "we'll fight em next time" become a sensible approach? Their powder couldn't be any drier.

It's almost as if they don't really want to win.

I'm done with them. I peeled my Kerry-Edwards sticker off my car this weekend. It felt so good to not feel like a chump anymore for standing up for people who won't stand up for themselves (or us). At least I'm not pretending anymore."

-- Keith Lutman

Alexandria, Virginia

PS -- Keith wrote back later to say that he didn't want to be misinterpreted as implying that Lieberman fights for us. He said Lieberman has become a caricature of himself. It's also hard to argue with that."-Cenk Uygur, on The Huffington Post.