Marginalizing the Left

As someone who tends to lean conservative, I am very leery of the idea of an increasing Republican majority and a marginalized Democratic party. Our system works best when the majority party is constantly challenged and prodded by the minority party. And contrary to what some think, an increasing Republican majority will actually move more to the left if the Democrats continue to cede ground in the center and center-left.

Unfortunately, it appears that Howard Dean is still feeding the anger on the Left rather than moving to the center and finding common ground. In the months since the election Dean has said the following:

• Tom DeLay, ''ought to go back to Houston where he can serve his jail sentence,"
• called Republicans, "evil, corrupt, and brain-dead"
• referred to Senator Rick Santorum as a "liar".
• said the only way the Republican National Committee could get "many people of color in a single room" was "if they had the hotel staff" there.

Even if any of these claims were true, I believe that most of the American public is sick and tired of outrageous rhetoric like this. If Dean is not careful, he will marginalize his party and leave an opening for another party to become the second party in American politics.