Turning Left

In an article in today's WaPo, "Permanent Republican Majority? Think Again," Andrew Kohut and Carroll Doherty of the Pew Research Center paint a gloomy picture for the Rethugs and a relatively bright one for progressive Democrats. Contrary to the wishful musings of Turdblossom and Abramoff bag man/"peewee league intellectual" Grover Norquist, the trending on a variety of social and policy issues is leftward; for example, more support for anti-poverty programs and more skepticism about the tenets of religious fundamentalism. In the question of party support, 50 percent connect with the Democrats, and only 35 percent with the Rethugs. A similar trend is apparent among Independents, who trended heavily (57 percent) to Democrats in the 2006 elections.

The writers caution that Democrats must not assume a permanent majority of their own is theirs for the asking, but rather to present themselves to the American people as the leaders and achievers, in contrast with the incumbent small-bore bunglers.