Warning:  The views expressed below express the opinion of the author, and do not reflect the views of an increasingly shrinking minority of the voting public.

Let the games begin!  Yesterday the Democrats introduced their 2006 election agenda called “A New Direction for America.”  In the same tradition as the now famously abrogated Republican “Contract with America,” launched with much fanfare for the midterm elections of 1994, the Democratic agenda is actually a compilation of six major themes with the alliterative slogan “Six for ’06.”

The bullet point issues for the Dems are as follows:


Is this political grandstanding by the Democratic Party? 
Sure it is.

Do Republicans do the same thing? 
Well duh.

Are these goals empty promises? 
No, not really.  They are goals, not promises.

Are these goals achievable? 
Not overnight.  But a step in the right direction is better than wanton neglect.

Should these be our priorities? 
All things being equal, there is bipartisan for each of these goals.  The difference lies in the means to get to the end.  Yes, Democrats believe that government has a large, if not critical, role to play if these ambitious aims are to be realized.  In recent years, it has become apparent that Republicans are relying solely of the largess of the wealthy and the corporate citizen to achieve these goals.

Can the Democrats win with these issues? 
The “culture of corruption” catchphrase has served the Democrats well in a number of primary contests so far.  It won’t be put to bed any time soon.  Nor will other attack themes such as zero accountability, a submissive Congress, an imperial Presidency, incompetence, corporatism, cronyism, record spending, record debt, and a referendum on Iraq.  And let’s be honest, at this point Democrats would likely defeat their opponents if they merely renamed their party “The Not The Party Of Bush” party.  These six issues are just icing on the cake - and by chance, they happen to reflect true Democratic core values.


So how are the Republicans responding?  Well, let’s see.  Here’s what we have so far from “the party of ideas”:


Wow, that’s some pretty compelling stuff.  Seems like a “slam dunk” for the Republicans, doesn’t it.  But just to be extra cautious, I'm guessing that the pious Republican faithful will enlist the divine aid of the Holy Trinity:  Diebold machines, capturing Osama bin Laden in October, and nuclear war.  Now that’s a winning combination!