In the wake of having their heads handed to them on a platter, the Democrats since Election Day have made two steps in the opposite direction. They got off on a good foot by selecting a new, diverse leadership team in the House. But they acted like the usual wimps by advancing two Right-wing judicial nominations out of committee in the lame duck session of Congress.

Let’s get the bad news out of the way first. Even before Republicans take control of the Senate in January, the Democrats on the Judiciary Committee are already rolling over and playing dead. Actually, they don’t have to play—they are dead.

Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) had held off considering the elevation of U.S. District Judge Dennis Shedd to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and the appointment of Utah law professor Michael McConnell to the 10th Court of Appeals.

Leahy said the two nominations were too contentious to bring before the committee prior to the Nov. 5 election. After the election, Leahy is being anything but contentious. Even though Democrats hold a 10-9 edge in committee, he guided the nominations through committee and reported them to the floor for a Senate vote.

Shedd, a former aide to retiring Sen. Strom Thurmond (R-S.C.), dismissed a lawsuit aimed at removing the Confederate flag from the statehouse dome, asserting that South Carolinians “don’t care if the flags flies or not.” He has ruled consistently against civil rights plaintiffs.

McConnell, who has the backing of ultra-conservative Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), is so hostile to civil rights that he opposes the concept of one person, one vote. He even objected to the Supreme Court decision denying tax exempt status to Bob Jones University for racially discriminatory policies.

After the Senate vote, Wade Henderson, executive director of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, a federation of 180 civil and human rights groups, said: “Regardless of the outcome of the election, there is no presidential mandate for a Right-wing judiciary.”

Not only did the Judiciary Committee send the nominations out of committee, they also sent a message to progressives, Henderson said.

“Senators who voted to confirm Dennis Shedd and Michael McConnell send a clear signal to women, racial minorities, workers and consumers across America that their voices will not be heard,” he said. “The message is that nominees who are hostile to civil rights, women’s rights and Congress’ authority to protect those rights, will get lifetime appointments where they can limit or even roll back progress on civil rights and civil liberties.”

That’s the bad news.

The good news is that Democrats elected a leadership team that reflects more than just White males. They elected Nancy Pelosi, an unapologetic liberal from San Francisco, as minority leader in the House. She voted against the Bush tax cuts and opposed authorizing the use of force against Iraq.

Also elected were Steny H. Hoyer of Maryland as whip, Robert Menendez, a Hispanic from New Jersey as caucus chairman and James E. Clyburn, a former chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus from South Carolina, as vice chairman of the Democratic caucus. Pelosi named John M. Spratt Jr., a fiscal conservative from South Carolina, as assistant to the leader.

Pelosi, an experienced lawmaker, made it clear that her priority will be challenging Republicans on the economy. That’s George W. Bush’s Achilles’ heel.
If they are ever to regain power, Democrats must get back to their bread-and-butter issues.

The combination of corporate scandals, including a major one in Bush’s home state, and massive job losses across the country provides issues perfectly tailored for the Democratic Party.

I am not a political consultant, and I don’t play one on TV. But if I were, I would have the Democratic candidate raise a few questions at each gathering. Anytime a room full of voters were gathered, I’d ask those who had been “downsized” to raise their hand? With their hands still in the air, I’d ask: How many of you have relatives who have recently lost their jobs? With those hands also in the air, I’d ask: How many of you have friends or neighbors who’ve lost their jobs?

At the end of that exercise, the point would have been made, and I’d have the Democrats depict themselves as the friend of workers and Republicans as the surrogates of big business. I’d ask the public to choose between the two.

But Democrats must stand for something. And stand tall. They can’t stay in hot pursuit of the elusive Bubba vote while ignoring the voters who brought them this far.

Bill Clinton demonstrated that even though he received a minority of the White vote in 1996, Democrats can offset that with an energized turnout of African-Americans and other people of color, women and labor. And the farther Democrats move away from their base, the farther they move from ever recapturing any branch of government.