It's a lesson Democrats should take to heart--and place at the center of their congressional agenda over the next two years. To be sure, no one should expect Tom Coburn to become the new best friend of spending-conscious Democrats. But his presence in the Senate, along with the increasing unease of many fiscal conservatives, presents Democrats with an opportunity. The Democrats can remake themselves as the party of fiscal sanity and paint the president's agenda as a waste of the country's future. They can work across the aisle with fiscal conservatives like Coburn to highlight Bush's most egregious proposals, and they can force the GOP leadership to make politically painful decisions about spending cuts for popular programs. They can also begin to frame the deficit in personal--even moral--terms, perhaps by using Bush's rhetoric of an "ownership society" against him. With ownership, after all, comes responsibility, and, thanks to Bush, we all own a piece of America's crushing debt. Such a strategy could be even more effective if U.S. currency began to slip rapidly. If the deficit continues to grow, currency experts say the dollar will plunge, driving up inflation and putting the squeeze on working families. By voting against costly proposals while laying the country's worsening fiscal situation at Bush's feet, Democrats can give lie to the "tax-and-spend liberal" stereotype and set the stage for a candidate who promises to clean house, much as Bill Clinton did in 1992.

Posted by: Jonathan Singer / 11:14 AM | Basie! Home