First Bella Pelosi takes over as Minority Leader, and now Terry McAuliffe is going to keep his job.

All we need is a promise from Bill Clinton that he'll campaign for Democratic candidates in 2004 as hard as he did in 2002, and Bush's reelection is in the bag.

Perhaps.

IMO, it would be a mistake to underestimate them. Look what their underestimation has done for Dubya. And, they're mean.

If the democratic leadership is shifting left, would one then look for evidence of a Republican strategy to move with them, toward a bigger, nore centrist tent?

Key evidence for me would be:

- "Excessive" accommodation of the Republican center on tax cuts, cap gains, etc.

- An earliest vote on partial birth abortion, if at all

- Renewal (surprise!) of the assault weapons ban

- Soc Sec issues and Tax overhaul enticeingly described, but held over for the "next" Bush Administration--the latter is too good a campaign issue as more middle payers each year are sucked into the AMT.

Perhaps.

I can't wait to see Al Sharpton in the primary debates.