Philosophy 101.(PROSPECTS)(Democrates and Democratic Party)

HERE IN WASHINGTON, "PROGRESSIVES"--THE preferred term of art these days--have been feeling pretty good lately. George W. Bush's Social Security privatization plan is still stuck in neutral, if not reverse. Tom DeLay, perhaps this town's most important Republican on an emotional level, is under fire. Poll after poll shows that the priorities of the Republican-controlled Congress--from passing the Terri Schiavo legislation to trying to block filibusters on judicial nominees--are quite unpopular.

Yet, those polls show something else, too: Public approval is not, as it ...