A Party in Crisis

From Bradley A Smith on Politico:

Bradley A. Smith, Professor, election law and campaign finance:

It's a party in crisis - lagging in the polls, it is out of ideas, its congressional leadership is highly unpopular, its policies failing, and a huge portion of its base consists of irreconcilable extremists. I'm, talking, of course, about the Democrats.

It's supposed to be the Republicans with the horrible "brand" problem and lack of ideas, but in fact there are increasing signs that the Democratic Party is ready for meltdown. Will it happen? I don't know, but what's the fun of predicting it once it is obvious to everybody? So let's go.

I'll let you go to the article to read the litany of problems facing the Democrat party, but I will bring you his final two paragraphs:

Perhaps worst of all, the Democrats are the party of the crazies. Polls show that approximately one-third of Democrats believe that the Bush administration knew in advance, or even planned, the attack on the World Trade Center in September 2001. A huge percentage will be satisfied with nothing short of criminal trials of various Bush officials, a public relations disaster in the making should the Democrats go that route. Go to the sites of Daily Kos, Huffington Post, or any other leading liberal website and read the comments from the rank and file - the Democrats are in serious danger of becoming a party of the bitter, the resentful, the unhinged, the mean and nasty, and in some cases, the certifiably insane.

Will the Democrats implode? Obama remains reasonably popular, and the Republicans are still struggling to find a positive agenda. The Democrats will have a media edge and probably a substantial money edge in the 2010 midterms. I expect the economy to pick up between now and 2010 - if you throw enough money at anything, it will have some effect, just as drunks feel better when they drink - and the downside may not really kick in until after 2010. Butt for all the presumptions that the Republicans are the party with difficulties, it may be the Democrats who are ready for a fall.

It's the wacky left side of the Dem party that's going to give them the most grief. They're the ones pushing for an even more drastic cap-and-trade bill than what came out of the house, a full blown single-payer nationalized health care program, the removal of the secret ballot for union elections, and a host of other issues that don't find favor with most of America.