The Democrats have no leader. Lucky for them.

[kurth]

Muffing Murtha
How Bush's rapid response went wrong.
By John Dickerson
Posted Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2005, at 4:35 PM ET

Let's be clear: Members of the Bush administration think Jack Murtha is a jolly good fellow. On Nov. 20, the president went out of his way to praise the Pennsylvania congressman as "a good man who served our country with honor and distinction as a Marine in Vietnam and as a United States congressman." The next day, Vice President Cheney did the same. He praised Murtha as a "good man, a Marine, a patriot."

There is almost no higher praise in Bushworld. To be called a good man means you are loyal, honest, and on America's side. The week before, administration officials and GOP leaders had strongly suggested just the opposite in responding to Murtha's call for a rapid redeployment of U.S. troops from Iraq. That Bush and Cheney are now complimenting him so conspicuously is a sign of how badly their original attack backfired.

This is what happens when a party goes into campaign mode without a single opponent. With no specific person to target, the Bush administration ends up taking on all members of the opposition at once. The White House plugged Murtha into an indiscriminate and undifferentiated rapid-response machine and it didn't work. Finally, Democrats have reason to be happy that they have no clear leader...

The bungled Murtha response gave him more energy, validity, and acclaim than he probably would have gotten otherwise. It has made the withdrawal option in Iraq a far more serious topic of conversation than it would be otherwise. No one is signing on to Murtha's quick timetable for withdrawal, but the idea can no longer be dismissed by merely mentioning the name of the person who offered it. Murtha's next proposal will arrive with far more credibility because of this episode. People will pay attention to what he has to say. After all, he's a good man. Just ask the president.

http://www.slate.com/id/2131022/

[dogday]

1. Murtha is my hero

I would vote for him for President....

[whoneedstickets]

3. This is a brilliant idea! Draft Murtha!!

To be the Democratic Party Candidate in 2008!

[Ivan Sputnik]

2. In a way, it is lucky

A clear "leader" right now might be too easy a target and provide too easy a way for the Repugs to change the subject by attacking him/her.

[MissMarple]

4. Progressives don't need a flag draped leader to rally around.

We have quite many people who are capable leaders who believe as we do. We don't need a "leader" to tell us the right thing to do, the right way to think, or what our values should be. We do our own thinking, thank you very much. And, we certainly don't need a big daddy figure to make us feel secure and warm and fuzzy.

Personally, I believe a decentralized leadership is a good thing. That's why I am not on any one potential candidate's bandwagon. I think there are several individuals who would do quite well in attracting a broad base of support. We need to do the work that paves the way for that support to develop. That is the hardest part, educating the American people.

What we don't need is for some power group to "select" someone we are all supposed to get behind and give blind support to like what happened with George&Co. That has ruined the Republican Party. We can't afford that with the Democrats.

[Rowdyboy]

6. Sadly, we already have a power group that decides the nominee....

Its called the Iowa caucus and the New Hampshire primary. With the insane media focus on the winners of those two, and the dumb practice of packing in all the primaries in a few weeks, there's no time to make an intelligent choice. Potentially good candidates don't get any exposure and there's no chance to recalibrate and make a comeback.

New Hampshire and Iowa, both 95%+ white, with no major urban centers are simply not indicative of the needs of the Democratic party. The front-loading of the primaries only makes it worse. Yet we keep doing it the same old way, expecting different results. :shrug:

[blm]

8. The insane media misreported the primaries alright, trying to knock out

Kerry early, then Clark and Edwards and then Dean at the end when they thought they had the others down enough.

[BenDavid]

5. I do not belong to any

organized political party.....I'm a democrat..... will rodgers

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

7. The media have already selected Hillary.

It is our job to be sure the media bandwagon doesn't just run over us.

[guruoo]

9. IMHO, The DLC selected Kerry, and now Hillary

it wasn't just the media.