As tempting as it may be for the Democrats to pile more pork onto the Bush regime's egregious budget, they must...resist...resist...resist. They must be very careful and find ways to show restraint amid the Bush profligacy. All Democrat recommended spending must be coupled with recommended revenue streams, tough as that may be. If they hope to turn the ship of state away from the iceberg they must be able hang the Republicans in 2004 with their own fiscal ropes. Furthermore they must forthrightly attack line items that are clearly Republican pork. They will not win on those points but they must have a demonstrable record of fiscal restraint in 2004.

Democrats must make the case over and over again that in the Republican party, ideology and campaign paybacks are more important than sound economics. And they must also subsume cherished Democratic ideology to sound economics. Clinton dismayed the party faithful at times by stealing worthwhile ideas from the Republicans. But it worked and worked well. In these times we don't have the luxury of ideological experiments. What we need is hard-nosed pragmatism. If a sitting Democrat can not reconcile him- or herself to this, they are dragging on the party rather than lifting.