Mark Steyn on Dean and the Dems. The trouble they're having is that on the big issues of national defence and the economy, the Democrats come off as fundamentally un-serious. What's worse (for them) is that since they know they can't compete with George Bush on the big issues, they poo-poo them to try to make them sound small. We need you to be serious about Osama bin Laden, but instead, when I listened to Gore endorse Dean, they talked about rolling back the tax cuts, and then made a speech talking about the importance of what sounded like about 23 trillion dollars (OK, an estimate) in new entitlement spending. Sorry, that's a non-starter, and it's a nowhere political platform.

The Democrats need to offer a plan and some leadership, not simply pander to every angry constituent that feels they're owed something. The only thing angry opposition accomplishes is to get Presidents re-elected. Just ask Nixon, Reagan and Clinton - all of whom had angry opposition, and all of whom enjoyed two terms.

OpinionJournal - The Bike-Path Left - Saddam? Osama? Whatever, dude!