E.J. Dionne Jr.  has a very interesting piece in today’s Washington Post:

It is now an ingrained journalistic habit: After a period of bad news for President Bush, media outlets invariably devote time and space to “balancing” stories that all say more or less: “Yes, the Republicans are in trouble, but the Democrats have no alternatives, no plans,” etc.

The pattern began to fall in place this weekend in the wake of two truly miserable weeks for Bush.

The stories about the Democrats are by no means flatly false — Democrats don’t yet have a fully worked-out alternative program — but they are based on a false premise, and they underestimate what I’ll call the positive power of negative thinking.

Article continues here.

E.J. hit a home run again. This is true. Right now is the perfect time for Democrats to get a unified message out. These little quarrels within the party are getting old. They must make a unified stand if they wish to regain control of one or both houses this fall.

One thing that really struck me was on Bill Maher last Friday. He brought up a very interesting point. The right has been attacking Hillary as being “angry”. She has been mainly quiet on the issue but also denying it. That is totally wrong. She needs to come out and say “yes I am angry. I am angry at what the President has done to this country. I am angry that warnings and plans from some of our most respected military minds get ignored by this administration. I am angry that our countries civil liberties are being stolen by a rogue President. I am angry that our seniors are being screwed over by the President’s hand out to the pharmacy companies in the name of Medicare reform”.

This is what needs to be done this election season. The Democrats need to be angry and channel that anger into a unified party plan. They can not sit idly by on the sidelines saying “well we don’t have control”. That is an attitude of losers and if they keep that up then they will remain losers. It was not that attitude that motivated Newt Gingrich to lead Republicans to take over the house in the 90’s.

Right now the Democrats have been given the greatest gift anyone in politics can be given. That gift is a failing President and Congress controlled by the opposition. That gift is Bush having a 34% approval rating and Cheney having an 18% approval rating. That gift is a vast majority of Americans sick of our economic status, sick of our soldiers dying needlessly in Iraq and sick of a President who tries to lead this country by scaring the hell out of everyone.

Now can the Democrats wake the hell up and accept this gift and go with it? If they don’t then this country will continue down its long and dark path.