While George W. Bush advances his own agenda and pushes his outreach to the opposition, the Democrats are struggling to find their footing. But all around them, you could see and hear Democrats crashing into other Democrats. Their confusion is understandable. They don't even know whether they are winners or losers. On the other hand, for the first time since 1954, their Republican opponents control the White House, both houses of Congress and a majority of the governorships.
Democratic leadership is in disarray.
During the campaign, White House sources leaked word that Clinton was champing at the bit to get out and rally the Democrats, while top Gore campaign officials told me and other reporters that their polling showed Clinton would cost Gore more votes than he could attract. So they kept him on the sidelines. Harris added the information that when they met, Gore told Clinton how much of a drag the president's scandals had been and Clinton replied that the real scandal was Gore's failure to capitalize on the administration's economic success and solid record of achievements. That argument has consumed the Democratic Party for the past six weeks, along with a parallel, finger-pointing discussion about the inability of the Democrats in four straight elections to establish themselves as the majority party in the House of Representatives. Greenberg and Teixeira say that populism was powerful, but could not overcome the incubus of the corruption associated with Clinton, Penn's most important client.