A friend of mine said he feels like Bob Dole in 1996, saying, Where's the outrage?" says Paul Begala, the Clinton strategist turned Crossfire host. Managing that outrage gap is going to be crucial for Democratic political aspirants who need to motivate their furious foot soldiers while winning over a blithe public. There's a consensus among progressive Democrats that they lost the 2002 midterm elections because they were too soft on Bush....
Later, Jeff Faux of the Economic Policy Institute, said, "When I'm driving around the country and I hear these talk shows with the right-wing drunks calling in, I say to myself, 'Where are our drunks?'" Yet Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., says the last thing Democrats need to do is stoop to Rush Limbaugh's level. "The purpose of politics is not to give people emotional satisfaction," he says. "If we were to do to Bush what [Republicans] did to Clinton, Bush would win the election and the Republicans would pick up seats," just as the Democrats did in the post-impeachment election. Says Begala about right-wing rage, "I don't think it does any good. Rush, Ann [Coulter], they make a lot of money, but 53 percent voted for Gore or Nader in the last election." (Salon)