Dems Elected as Trumanites, To Govern as McGovernites

We all hoped that the Democrats would realize that what they won last week was with candidates who stuck to the middle. This blog questioned the party's commitment to that middle.

Now we see what happens when you trust the middle to a party in a muddle for forty years.

Nancy Pelosi has issued a ringing endorsement for John Murtha to become House Majority Leader, the second in command for the House Ds. Murtha, styled by the media as pro-military but in about the same way as a union boss is pro-business (everything for the workers/soldiers, who should do no actual working/soldiering), is the leading voice in calling for the unconditional withdrawal (his Orwellian styling of it has been "redeployment," to spots as far away as the Philippines) of American troops.

Murtha is, in other words, a McGovern for our times.

If the Ds elect a more moderate candidate, one dedicated to fixing Iraq instead of leaving it in a fix, we'll know that there's hope for our two-party system. If they follow the leader, we'll know that nothing has changed.

A different way to frame this question is whether the Ds will try to govern with the voters or their donors in mind. Never mind the good of the country or the world, for that matter.

And if they make such moves as Murtha, will St. Joe Lieberman start caucusing with the Rs? He seems to be leaving the door open. That, of course, would switch the Senate to the Rs. Will the MSM cover such a move as expressing or subverting the Will of the People?

It only gets more interesting, and more serious.