In defeat, Democrats have convened their perennial circular firing squad, issuing salvos of what Groucho Marx used to call departee--what they should have said. Everyone agrees, belatedly, that Democrats should stand up and fight for something. But of course, there is little agreement on what is worth fighting for or against. Suggestions thus far range from the laughable (the DLC--Democrats for the Leisure Class--urging the burial of Social Security and prescription drugs as issues, the two major reasons voters chose Democrats on Election Day), to the clueless (Representative Martin Frost announcing that voters "went to the right," and Democrats should follow), to the just plain dumb (Senator John Edwards calling for an austerity budget in the midst of war and recession with interest rates lower than they've been for fifty years).

Democrats would do well if they would just be Democrats. Most people sensibly think Republicans represent the corporations and the plutocrats. They expect Democrats to represent the rest of us and are disappointed when they don't. Senator Joseph Lieberman's passionate defense of off-the-books executive stock options confounds, as does Senator Tom Daschle's slavish pursuit of the credit-card companies' bill to gouge distressed families in bankruptcy.

Democrats are in the opposition now, so they will be defined by what they are prepared to fight against, and what they are prepared to stomach. In Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi they have a prospective new leader in the House who isn't afraid to mix it up (see "Ready to Rumble," page 11). It's no secret that Republican House majority leader Tom DeLay is collecting wish lists from every corporate lobby in Washington. A flood of special interest, antiworker, anticonsumer legislation is on the way--rolling back clean air protections, weakening inspection of food and drugs, forcing taxpayers, rather than polluters, to pay for cleaning up toxic waste. Democrats should do battle against these measures, expose the money politics behind them and take their case to the country.

Subscriber Login

User Name

Password

Subscribe Now!

The only way to read this article and the full contents of each week's issue of The Nation online is by subscribing to the magazine. Subscribe now and read this article -- and every article published since for the past five years -- right now.

There's no obligation -- try The Nation for four weeks free.

• Get The Nation at home (and online!) for 75 cents a week!
• If you like this article, consider making a donation to The Nation.