Mmm, my favorite topic.

Jonathan Chait, possibly the smartest anti-Republican attack dog on the Web, writes in TNR that it's Republicans, not Democrats, who are out of ideas.

Noting that "[t]he essence of the modern conservative argument has revolved around the assertion that their side is proposing change while the Democrats propose stasis," Chait rebuts this by showing just how bankrupt the Republican idea machine has become:

Remaining in Iraq is status quo; pulling out is a new policy. Keeping the tax cuts is status quo; repealing them and using the resources elsewhere is new...They lack any answers, or even any explanations, for the main problems the country faces. Overseas, North Korea and Iran are on the verge of acquiring nuclear weapons. What does the right propose to do about this? Nothing...We're facing large deficits even during an economic expansion (which means the deficits will explode when the economic cycle inevitably slows). What is the GOP's answer? Spending cuts that come nowhere close to filling the hole.

When the man is right, he's right. From 1980 to 2000, Republicans ran on clear ideas that were focused on solving the problems of the time - beef up law-n-order (to combat the crime wave), support family values (to combat drug use, teen pregnancy, and crime), stand up to the Soviets, cut taxes (to beef up U.S. businesses), and end welfare.

Conservatives won the presidency in 1980, and Congress in 1994, and they implemented their agenda. The U.S. beefed up its military, taxes fell from their 70s levels, divorce rates and abortions dropped, and millions of people went to prison. And, whether or not conservative policies had any effect (and I have my doubts), the underlying problems that made people vote Republican disappeared one by one - the USSR vanished, the crime wave abated, drug use and teen pregnancy fell, and welfare queens disappeared from the headlines.

So now conservatives are beginning to encounter the problem that liberals met in the 80s - they don't know where to go from here. Sure, they can keep pushing against abortion, but that horse is showing signs of fatigue. Tax cuts have bumped up against the monster deficit. If it wasn't for "fighting terrorism" (which Republicans are not doing a spectacular job of), Republicans would basically be lost at sea. Voters realize this too: John Kerry and Al Gore each got bigger percentages of the vote than Clinton ever did, and Bush is the least popular kid on the playground these days.

The problem is, 25 years after their wake-up call, liberals still don't have a strategic direction. Sure, Democrats have some ideas - Chait cites health care policy - but individual piecemeal ideas are fundamentally different from a coherent, focused bundle of policies in support of a clearly defined political philosophy.

Chait, unfortunately, tries to weasel out of this truth, saying that "[w]hen you lack power, the best you can do is prevent bad ideas from being enacted." (This echoes a post by the bombastic blogger Armando, who blusters that, OF COURSE, "the job of Congressional leaders IN OPPOSITION is to oppose"...)

Bull shyte. Conservatives didn't have power in 1979, but they knew they wanted to cut taxes, bulk up the military, stop abortion, and end welfare. Liberals marching in the streets in the 1960s didn't have power, but they knew they wanted to win civil rights, stop war, create a better social safety net, make women equal, and protect consumers and workers.

So don't tell me that the Democrats' lack of power excuses them from having to say what they want to do! I'm not buying it. In a democracy, you don't first get power and then implement your ideas; first you tell people why you deserve power and what you'll do if you get it, and then they decide to give you the power. As soon as you make the idea that "we don't have to do anything except crticize the other party" into one of your talking points, you've basically resigned yourself to permanent failure.

So yes, the Republicans are out of gas, but the Democrats are taking too long to fill up their tank. Besides pulling out of Iraq (which is happening anyway) and raising taxes to cut the deficit, what do liberals want to do to better our civilization? Strategic focus and vision is what we need, and Republican weakness doesn't and shouldn't change that.

PS - this is Noahpinion's 101st post! Break out the champagne! Woooooooo!