None of this is going to matter if the Democrats keep refusing to find a common POSITIVE alternative message to send to voters. One thing that Reagan, Clinton and even Shrub managed to do is paint themselves as leaders who were going to take direct action towards a goal. Never mind that much of that was just rhetoric and jingoism -- it sells. Acting like a Greek chorus to moan about what a dufus Shrub is does nothing to convince voters to seek an alternative when no positive alternative is available. The list shows clear targets to go after -- Americans are out of work so find ways to get them back to work, Americans are afraid of terrorists so do something REAL to stop them and so on. Regardless of why Shrub is popular, the simple fact is that he IS and so to stop him a Democratic candidate must not only point out Shrub's shortcomings, the candidate must USURP that popularity by delivering the kind of message that Americans want to hear -- not what you think they should hear.

For example, tax cuts sell, so instead of trying to explain why they hurt a bad economy, why not push an equally crazy, but more appealing tax cut like a $2000 cash rebate to EVERY American? Obviously $2000 is chump change to the rich, but to middle-America that's a pot of gold. Paint it as REAL relief for struggling Americans and since EVERY American gets it, you aren't "singling out the successful" or other such neocon-code for taxing the rich. Frankly, I haven't done the math, but I'll bet an immediate $2000 rebate to every tax-paying adult will cost less in the long run than the tax cut proposed by Shrub. After all, a 1% reduction in the rate Bill Gates pays would be equivalent to thousands of $2000 checks and who do you think people would vote for if given the two alternatives?