Blessing or Curse? Today's Washington Post has an interesting story about the resurgence of the Democratic Left. Just 10 years after Clinton came to power, the "New Democrats" seem to be dead in the water. Knowing a lot of friends who are Dems and Progressive Dems to boot, I can see that the Left has in many ways be energized in a way it has not been in the wake of the Iraq war. However, the Left is not good at getting beyond it's base and explaining their message to more centrist voters. The expect that people should just know things are bad and vote the right way. The reason Clinton won in '92 was that he fashioned a message that reached to moderate voters. Will someone like a Dean be able to reach the center where the race is won? It remains to be seen. He has a mix of conservative and liberal positions that could work, but he must do a better job at convincing moderates that he is not just a tool of a Left that wants to ignore the war on terror. Politics is a lot like religion in that one must be good at spreading the gospel to be successful. Progressive Dems have to find ways to spreading their message.