RUNNING ON EMPTY:

Why the Democrats Are All Boxed In: Why Democrats are losing the political game and Republicans are betraying their convictions (JOE KLEIN, Nov. 23, 2003, TIME)

The Democrats' opposition to the Medicare bill was both tortured and intemperate. Some of the gripes are legitimate—the proposed drug benefit is complicated and in many cases insufficient. But Ted Kennedy voted for that benefit last summer. The sticking points now involve matters of Democratic Party theology, and they require a brief explanation. Medicare currently is a fee-for-service program, which means it works the way old-fashioned medicine did—essentially, you get whatever services you request. This is fabulously expensive and bound to grow more so as the baby boomers retire. Most Republicans and many moderate Democrats want to restrain costs by moving toward a system of managed care—which is what most nonelderly Americans now receive through HMOs and preferred-physician networks. The Medicare bill contains a six-city test of managed care, which would begin in 2010. This tiny experiment is what sent the Democrats up a wall. "We're not going to let seniors be herded into HMOs," Dick Gephardt harrumphed. Their alternative? Well, they don't have one. "Medicare should be left alone," said Howard Dean, who used to be more creative—and honest—about such things.

The vehemence of the Democratic assault was astonishing. The AARP, formerly a linchpin of the liberal coalition, was trashed by various liberals as a den of insurance-peddling moneygrubbers. House Democrats told me that minority leader Pelosi was twisting arms with unprecedented avidity—anyone who voted in favor was "no longer a Democrat," and plum committee assignments would go only to loyalists. I suspect this reflects desperation as much as principle. The Bush Administration is outsmarting the Democrats at every turn. The economy seems to be recovering. If Iraq is stabilized—a huge if—what will the Democrats run on? Their intellectual cupboard is bare, and the election may be slipping away.

Campaign Finance Reform? Gone. Prescription Drugs? Gone. Education? Gone. Abortion? It works in favor of the GOP now. Taxes? Democrats want to raise them. The Economy? It's booming. The war on terror? Democrats seem to oppose it. Iraq? Maybe, but by next Summer it's likely to have calmed down and Iraqis are likely to be at center stage, not us.

So what are the big new ideas for the Democrats? Ideas comparable to privatizing social services, voucherizing the social welfare net and education, reforming the tax code, and democratizing Islam?

Posted by Orrin Judd at November 27, 2003 7:08 AM