The Democrats had a guy with moxie. His name was Howard Dean.

And John Kerry and Richard Gephardt decided in Iowa in 2004 to pool their resources and run a bunch of negative ads to knock him out of the 2004 race.

And Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi have been doing whatever they can to make sure he has no power as head of the DNC.

Bob Herbert:

Enough already with the analyses ad nauseam of the strategies and tactics and philosophies that the Democratic Party should pursue to regain power in upcoming elections.

We've been listening to this armchair chatter for years: The Democrats need new ideas. They need big ideas. They need to move to the center. They need to wave the flag. They need to go to church. They need the soccer moms and the Nascar dads. They need to run from the blacks. They need to run from the gays.

I have no more patience with this perennially pathetic patient, this terminally timid Democrat who continues to lie cowering and trembling on the analyst's couch, wondering why the Demolition Derby Republicans control virtually all of the levers of power in the United States.

The Democrats are thinking too much and doing too little. This is a party in need of a moxie transplant. It's time for the patient to climb off the couch, walk outside and mix it up with the gang that has made a complete and utter mess of the country that was entrusted to it.

[snip]

What the Democrats need more than anything, with midterms coming up in the fall and a presidential election two years later, are personable candidates of strong character who have at least some measure of political courage and are willing to stand up for what they truly believe. This is the stuff that leaders are made of.

They have another guy with moxie. His name is Russ Feingold. He attempted to introduce a censure resolution in an attempt to have SOME kind of accountability for the crimes of the Bush Administration.

And here's what other high-profile Democrats said:

"I haven't read it." (Sen. Barack Obama - IL)
"I just don't have enough information" (Sen. Bill Nelson - FL)
"I really can't right now" (Sen John Kerry - MA)
"Ask her after lunch" (spokesperson for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton - NY)
I'm not going to comment" (Sen. Charles Schumer - NY)

Here in NJ's Fifth Congressional District, we have a Democrat with moxie. Her name is Camille Abate. Not only has the Bergen County Democratic Organization brought in a carpetbagger dweeb who doesn't even live in the district to run for the seat, whose only credentials are that he's a Clintonista hack who also worked for the now-disgraced McGreevey administration, but they have also retaliated against Democratic council candidates in towns that have not endorsed their Anointed Boy. Said Anointed Boy, Paul Aronsohn, refused to endorse net neutrality, even when pressed by me, until his presentation of Mike McCurry as a public face of his campaign was posted on Blue Jersey. I'm not convinced that Aronsohn, whose web site is full of the same old "pro-business Democrat" bullshit we've seen far too much of, even knows what net neutrality is.

But when people who support Aronsohn are asked why they support him, they say it's because he's "electable." A guy who's never run for anything but has worked for the right politicians is "electable"? A guy who stands for nothing? A guy who can't even answer a simple question -- "Do you support net neutrality?" until backed into a corner?

What the hell does "Electable" mean, anyway? "Electable" is made John Kerry the Democratic nominee in 2004 -- a guy who took his $14 million in leftover campaign cash and went home before the votes were even counted. A guy who couldn't beat George W. Bush in a debate even when it was clear that the latter was wearing an earpiece and his answers were being fed to him. "Electable." How's that "electable" stuff workin' for ya, Democrats? Not so good? Well, maybe it's time to actually stand for something. Maybe it's time for Democrats to stand for working people instead of giant corporations. Maybe it's time for Democrats running for office to NOT have the leading lobbyist for the telecom giants as the public face of their campaigns. And the only way we're going to get Democrats who represent people instead of corporations. Joe Biden puts on a good show of being a populist, but when push comes to shove, he votes to protect MBNA, not the people of Delaware whose lives are decimated by medical expenses.

Bob Herbert goes on to say:

It's time to climb off the couch, Democrats, present yourselves to the public, and take a stand. If you're personable, and possessed of just a little bit of courage, you're halfway home.

I'll take it a step further. It's time for Democratic voters to DEMAND that their leaders take a stand and stop trying to make nice with the Republicans. It's time for voters to DEMAND leaders who represent THEM. And it's time for them to stop rewarding those who don't.