going offensive.

Ran into one old friend puttering between Jamba juice and the hardware store today - He has been amazingly precient over the years about politics. He has called elections well before the outcome was clear to anyone else. In 1991 he told me Bush 1 was a loser. At the time George had an approval rating in the 90's - when i pointed this out - he said "yeah, but he golfs too much." Strange as it sounded at the time it turned out to be quite a wise, flip remark. Later, in 1994 - when Clinton was in the tank - he told me Clinton was a lock for relection. Huh? Then he said the speech in Oklahoma after the bombing was in essence his relection speech and no one had the talent to beat him. Later that year-1994 - he called W in 2000 and never wavered for 6 years. While waiting for our high calorie, low guilt juices - he said to me "McCain is running. He will win. Republicans for the forseeable future." Much as i did not want to hear this, i have the sinking feeling he is right. Democrats still have not learned how to play the issues in their favor. Today, on Harball, a REPUBLICAN Senator was expressing concern about gas prices. So what?!!- you ask? - The Democrats can not seem to EVER go on offense. They are still incapable of grabbing an obvious issue and taking the mike, unless the GOP has given the cue. Attacking Delay is fine. It will win exactly ZERO elections. An aggressive stance on Gas Prices and Health Care prices would catapult the Democrats upward. It would SWING swing states. It would put the Democrats in a position to win in 2006.

And yet - they spend their time barking at Bolton - nice, but a sure loser. The GOP always knows how to pick and frame winning issues. It is NOT HARD. Karl Rove is not a genius. He's just smart. Whether we like it or not we should take some cues from him. The other choice is perpetual minority status. It feels GREAT to take a GOP goon down here and there - but we are paying for it with the destruction of the New Deal and the social contract that goes with it. Winning is possible. The best Defense of America is a good Offense. Medicare and Health care costs are winners. Simple. We should not wait for McCain to bring them up when he announces he's running.