Now is the time for the Dems to stop being fuzzy and shapeless and find an edge.
I think that sums it up pretty well. Self-identified moderates and independents aren't, on the whole, issue voters. Trying to appeal to them by being accomodationist is the wrong way to go. Sure there are places where Democrats have to be fairly conservative to win elections, but many Democrats who try to fashion themselves as moderates simply lose their shape, their definition, their edge. For the most part this has nothing to do with positions on actual policies, but fuzzy accomodationist rhetoric. It doesn't appeal to voters, just the "The Note" crowd.
Compromise is something you do behind the scenes. Stop doing it in public.
...one more thing, the only refutation to the "liberal media" canard necessary is a daily reading of the Note. I wouldn't recommend it, however, as it will likely cause you to kill yourself. Consider this from today's brilliant dispatch:
4. Did the Swift Boat Veterans who demanded Sen. Kerry sign the Form 180 get what they wanted, given that his military records are pretty much what was released during the campaign? Or does it just give them a little mileage out of the average-student thing? And will Kerry push back in "now show us yours" way?
Yes, because Kerry had shitty grades in college this validates the Swift Boat Veterans and their media enablers. Your self-justifying celebrity press corps in action.