"Democrats always had one thing going for them. It was the party that spoke truth to power. It was the party that said you have to let everyone drink from the same water fountain. It's the party that said girl's soccer is important, too. It's the party that stopped Richard Nixon, and ended the Viet Nam war. We used to have stones."

You are very wrong about this. In the South, Democrats were, and to a surprising extent remain, the party of racism, the anti-Lincolns. This is not some quaint anachronism, not when one third of the populiation of this nation resides in the South. It is why a putative Democrat like New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin supported Bush for President in both 2000 and 2004, and Governor Blanco's Republican opponent when she ran for office (that and maybe a good dose of sexism). It is why Democratic candidates in the South often distance themselves from the national Democratic party. It is why winning an election supposedly requires moving to the right. It's one reason Eugene V. Debs said he was embarrased to be a Democrat, and left the party. Someday "Democrat" may mean what you say it does in the South, but not yet.

IS THAT FOR ME? I'M CONFUSED.

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