Dems Are Not Ready to Lead

Tony Blankley writes a piece at RealClearPolitics.com on just how unprepared for leadership the Democrats are:

And for the American voters today, the first vital fact is the nature and state of the opposition party that aspires to replace the existing majority. Rarely in the annals of American politics has an opposition party been less well prepared for governance than today's congressional Democratic Party. They have not used their decade in the wilderness constructively.

Instead of going through a period of self-assessment, reappraisal, re-organization and thoughtful reconsideration of their views on the great issues of our time (as the congressional Republicans did in the decade prior to their re-taking the House and Senate in 1994), the congressional Democratic Party has indulged in a decade of power envy, scandal mongering and vicious internecine fighting and name calling.

The first responsibility of an opposition party seeking governance is to be reasonably well organized and led. But no credible leaders have emerged amongst the congressional Democrats. There remains a vicious struggle between Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Minority Whip Steny Hoyer. Indeed, it is widely believed that she put up the aging John Murtha to run against Hoyer for the second leadership spot next January.

The divisions between Pelosi and Hoyer -- and the factions that follow each -- are both personal and substantive. They cannot find any reasonable agreement on the central issues of our time -- the war on terror (including their views of civil liberties for terrorists) and the Iraq War. They cannot agree on tax policy, border policy or the issues that Democrats might call identity politics and social justice. They differ fundamentally on their view of whether business and the free market are good or bad for America. Rather than attempt to resolve their differences in preparation for governance, they have -- if anything -- been widening their breach over the last year.

There are those who believe that two years of Dem rule in Congress would almost guarantee another Republican president in '08 because the voters would be quickly fed up with their divisive tactics, but I'm not willing to take that chance. Read the rest of Blankley's column here.