Rep. Rahm Emanuel's five-point plan

Rep Emanuel's words for what the Democrats will do once given the majority, on Tim Russert, back on October 2.

"First, we make college education as universal for the 21st century as a high school education was in the 20th.
Second, we get a summit on the budget to deal with the $3 trillion of debt that's been added up in five years and structural deficits of $400 billion a year.
Third, an energy policy that says in 10 years, we cut our dependence on foreign oil in half and make this a hybrid economy.
Fourth, we create an institute on science and technology that builds for America like, the National Institutes has done for health care, we maintain our edge.
And fifth, we have a universal health-care system over the next 10 years where if you work, you have health care."

Whether these timetables or goals are precisely realistic isn't the point. The point is to provide a statement of what Democrats stand for.

I can live with this one. Education, fiscal responsibility, energy independence, science and research, universal health care. That is what it means to be a Democrat in the 21st century.

Stacked up against the Republican priorities -- which can, I think, be fairly stated as "opposition to abortion, opposition to gays, getting our soldiers killed halfway around the world, cutting taxes to the wealthy, and dismantling the social safety net" -- I like how our side sounds.

And anytime you ask "why aren't we hearing what Democrats stand for?" maybe you should ask "Why isn't the media making it clear what Democrats stand for?" instead...

"What's he going to run on? 'I won the war, the other guy's a bum', that's it."
- Mario Cuomo on George Bush I, 1991