The Democrats are quite comfortable squatting in the middle of the road in the Senate, thank you. Don't see Ted Kennedy stripped of power just yet.

And I go by root philosophies when I vote. This has been less attractive to me in recent years. While the philosophy of the Democrats remains shoving the nation full-throttle into socialism, the philosophy of the Republicans seems to have devolved away from "government best that governs least" and settled into shoving the nation into socialism, only a lot more slowly than the Democrats. *Sigh.*

I had a discussion along these lines with Mary Anne. If liberals were half as concerned about what the Democrats want to do with their lives as they are about what they fear Republicans might do, the nation might be on a more even keel.

Dennis Kucinich just speaks what many other Democratic politicians believe, but hide to keep their elected positions.

An exercise for the student: go down the list of long-term Democratic Party policy goals since Roosevelt that consolidate the power of a central authority over the individual. How many have these been enacted? Now do the same for what you believe the Republicans have in mind for the country as far as violating rights is concerned. Go back as far as you like. Who is really succeeding in imprinting their policies on the nation? The Patriot Act has a sunset clause. I wish to God some of the programs the Democrats have inflicted on this nation did.