You'll think so after reading
this piece in the Washington Post:
In politics, there's nothing like having the other side steamroll your party -- using your own steamroller -- to jangle the emotions.
Democrats have owned the Medicare issue for nearly 40 years. But this week, the Republicans climbed into the driver's seat and mashed the gas pedal. In closed-door sessions that excluded nearly all Democrats, through rule-bending roll calls, dishing out goodies to friends and twisting arms of the recalcitrant, the Republicans passed $400 billion worth of changes. Democrats spent the day picking carpet fibers out of their hairdos and sorting out their reactions.
Should they be outraged or envious in the face of Republican audacity and discipline? Disheartened or energized by President Bush's latest victory? This inability to choose a voice, to stick to one path, was a worrisome sign for many Democrats -- especially after such a disorienting year for the party. They have been ousted from power at every level from statehouses to governor's mansions to Congress to the White House; divided over Bush's decision to invade Iraq; unable to coalesce early behind a presidential challenger.
Here's how Von Drehle summarizes the Democrats' reaction to their defeat at the hands of the GOP and Dem defectors on the Medicare bill:
Democrats fretted about the possibility that they will be stranded in the congressional minority for years to come. They also talked bravely of the public streaming to their side.
Senators Daschle and Kennedy get raked over the coals in particular:
Robert Borosage of the Campaign for America's Future blamed Senate Minority Leader Thomas A. Daschle (D-S.D.) for the collapse. In the House, he said, Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) managed to hold the line so effectively that Republicans had to hold open their middle-of-the-night vote for nearly three hours on Saturday -- the longest flouting of the 15-minute rule in House history -- just to eke out a win. After which the Democratic filibuster in the Senate swiftly collapsed.
"There's clearly an absence of forceful leadership at the top of the Senate"
....
The wily and experienced Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) had his pocket picked. It was humiliating.
....
"What Kennedy didn't realize is that the tide has changed," said James A. Thurber, an expert on congressional politics at American University.
I'm in the camp that believes the Dems have boxed themselves into the Congressional minority for the next generation. The only branch of government we can possibly achieve is the White House. I just pray we can even get that.