Are Democrats too scared of losing to win?

By Steven C. Day
According to the generally dependable Nate Silver, Democrats have a lot to worry about in 2010. Not only does he predict that the party will lose seats in Congress, he sees some risk, small but not trivial, that the GOP could actually win back the House. But what's particularly interesting is the reason for Silver's pessimism: it seems that there's an enthusiasm gap between the two parties -- one that favors the Republicans. Right now, Republican voters are much more motivated than Democratic voters.
So, what is the Democrats' response? Will they, at long last, start playing to the base a little? Perhaps even start aggressively pushing liberal priorities in an effort to fire up the troops? Or at a very minimum, will they at least start feeding the base a little red meat by raising holy hell over GOP lies and obstructionism?
That would be a no.
Quite to the contrary, it would seem that Obama & Co. have chosen this very moment to declare war on the Democratic Party's progressive base by abandoning their support for a public option in the healthcare reform bill. Yeah, that's the ticket: continue to suck up to a fraud such as Chuck Grassley, who, not satisfied with merely endorsing the "death panels" lie, has also taken to hawking books for ultra-nut Glenn Beck. Or how about throwing the entire progressive base under the bus so as to please Kent Conrad as he continues to undercut efforts at real reform?
This has gone far beyond pathetic and all the way to pathological. Establishment Democrats have become so terrified of being painted as liberals, they continue to rub their most dependable supporters' faces in it even though doing so may well lead them to defeat.
It's really that simple: Democrats have become too scared of losing to win.
LAST CHANCE DEMOCRACY CAFE
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