THE LIBERALS ARE IN CRISIS! GOOD.

So there is some crazy logic coming from liberals these days. The Democrats have to find their religion? The Democrats have to reach out to the heartland? The Democrats have to appeal to rural America? NO! How about reaching out to the progressives, the Greens, the leftists? Of course not, they'd rather confuse their message further, trying to stand just to the left and just to the right of the fascists in the white house. I can already predict these Democrats' choice for a ticket in 2008: Joseph Lieberman and Colin Powell. These people need to get the hell out of the way.

Then there are the slightly more left-leaning liberals, like Katha Pollitt of The Nation. She wrote a column this month that should really just be a speech for her therapist. These are the sad folks who put all their hope in John Kerry and the electoral process, so now they are devestated and considering leaving the country. These people need some Zoloft and a beer, and then maybe they can try writing for major publications again.

Some of the best analysis is coming from Alexander Cockburn of Counterpunch. He's been writing some great stuff and revealing some interesting facts. For instance, he claims that "The youth vote (18 to 24) stayed the same as in 2000. The turnout among the 25 to 35 cohort was 4 per cent less than in 2000." This confirms one of my theories. Young people were not excited by Kerry because he offfered us nothing. It was mostly those age groups that took to the streets last year to oppose the war, but they faced two candidates promising to continue the war. For those in the younger bracket who may have a possible draft on their mind, there was no mainstream candidate with a plan to get out of Iraq and avoid such a possibility. For those in that age group facing skyrocketing tuition - again, why vote for either major candidate?

The Liberal Democrats didn't offer answers for these folks, and they have no good answers for defeating Republicans in four years. But I don't think they're going to disappear. So those of us on the left have to be ready, or else we will be dealing with this argument in 4 years: "Sure the Lieberman/Powell ticket isn't perfect, but at least they aren't as bad as DeLay/Rumsfeld."