No criticism here, Jerry. Sometimes I have to check to see what party a speaker represents. There seems to be little or no difference between the two.

This election was lost because the Democrats allowed the Republicans to set the agenda. They never put forth a clear message of their own and were always on the defensive. I suspect they had no clear message and that was the problem. Worse, they seem to be headed down the road of "Let's go back to the Clinton years. We've got his wife right here." It ain't gonna fly. In fact I am for the first time in my life considering dropping my membership and going Independent.

The lack of direction within the Democratic party is just as responsible for the mess in Iraq as the Republicans. They did support the president's decision to invade Iraq. And they did it for political safety.