Changing Course.(ISSUES & INSIGHTS)(EDITORIALS)(Editorial)

Politics: When one party spends virtually all its time careening from one personal attack to another, and virtually no time at all actually legislating, it may be time for that party to take stock. Got that, Democrats?

We happen to believe that America's democracy is well served by having two strong parties that articulate clear, strong visions for the future. That means putting forward a coherent philosophy -- saying what you believe and what you'll do to address the critical problems of the day -- and then slugging it out in the marketplace of ideas.

Which is exactly what Democrats aren't doing these days.

Indeed, they seem so fixated on taking down President Bush -- or anyone associated with him -- that they've become nearly incapacitated as a political party. Rage has replaced reflection, and American political life is impoverished as a result.

Over the last few months, we've been treated to an endless parade of phony or ginned-up "scandals" involving Bush or his proxies -- the false tale that Bush "lied" about WMDs to get us into war, Tom DeLay's supposed "unethical" use of funds, Vice President Dick Cheney's one-time ties to Halliburton, Karl Rove's alleged "outing" of CIA agent Victoria Plame, John Bolton's bad temper, and, now, Supreme Court nominee John Roberts, who, Democrats suggest, might be a conservative Catholic. Heaven forfend.

We're still waiting for one of these Democrat-driven "investigations" to bear their poisoned fruit. But despite help from a willing mainstream media in digging up dirt, nothing seems to stick.

Democrats might want to ask themselves: What has my party done this year? The record shows the answer is not much.