When is a majority---a majority?

It seems that in politics here in America--the party with the most elected members is the party that controls the agenda. In theory that is.

However--since we only have two significant parties, the members of each party cover a wide range of ideals. You have Left wing, moderate and right leaning democrats. And likewise you have Republicans who are rightwing, moderate, and left leaning.

Right now--because of a lack of weak party leadership in the Repuplican party -which is in the majority--and a strong party leadership in the Democrat party--you have a reversal of fortunes for the constiuants of the Republican party and a bumper crop for the Democrats.

How a two party system ends up with a functioning majority is determined by the skill and leadership ability of a party head. The party head must be capable of pulling the spectrum of views and ideals held by its members into a coalition that is focused on certain values and goals that the overall party strives for. Without strong leadership in the majority party--the minority party can act as if they are the majority when push comes to shove during legislative debates.

This is happening right now as I write this. yesterday I covered the weakness I perceived in George W. Bush" leadership skills. Today --the minority party blocked a key UN Ambassadership appointment that President Bush had nominated and forwarded to the congress for approval. It appears that his objection to Stem Cell research will be overruled by congress, and his Social Security plan is all but dead.

It could be argued in two years if this was happening that he in fact is a lame duck--since he cannot run for re-election---and that party members are jockying for position for a run at the Presidential office.

But this can hardly be argued 6 months into his second term with 42 months to go.

It appears that the Republican party is in chaos with nobody steering the ship.

Maybe we need more major parties so that coalitions are formed and the will of the voters can prevail. many are calling for heads to roll. For party renegades to be defeated in future elections--as punishment for not remaining loyal to party ideals. I disagree. Strong leadership at the top will cure this problem.

Come on Yodi. Lets' go for a walk and ponder what we can do to make a difference. We don't need to wait for 42 months for change. We can change tactics and push forward on our own to accomplish in our own way the changes we hoped that the conservatives could help us with.