Bush, Republicans on ropes-now what?

Even Governor Tim Pawlenty admits the Republicans are in bad shape at the moment. After years of pounding home the message that the Bush administration lies and deceives to obtain its objectives, Americans are starting to get it. The result: Bush's poll numbers are at record lows and Republicans don't want to be seen with the President.

OK... now what?

We have a year until the mid-term elections. That's forever in politics. And even longer until the Presidential election. No doubt, the Libby (and possible Rove) indictment will continue to dominate headlines (until we have another terror threat). But Americans have a short memory and an even shorter attention span. That means two things:

1) Any message about the complexities of the CIA identity leak story need to be brought back to one central point -- this is evidence the Bush administration manipulated the facts and our emotions to invade another country that posed no immediate threat to U.S. security.

2)If Democrats want to win elections, they need to offer solutions and not be seen as "more of the same". While trust and approval of the President and Republicans has been dropping, there hasn't been a corresponding rise in trust and approval of Democrats. It may seem counter-intuitive, but Democrats need to become less political and partisan to gain the trust of Americans. That means working to find real solutions. Listening to ideas from all political persuasions and not just giving them lip service.

That's hard work. And I know a good number of Democrats (and Republicans) do that kind of hard work. It's time to shine the spotlight on that hard work. It's time to elect leaders whose first priority is not to any constituency that elected them or gave them money, but to the general welfare of this country.

I know that sounds damn corny and naive. But it needs to happen.

If not us, who? If not now, when?