Professor Bainbridge posts about a new study by Andrew Sullivan that says that “Young people react with hostility to the Republicans on almost every measure and Republicans and younger voters disagree on almost every major issue of the day.”

Given society’s historic pendulum approach to politics, this comes as no surprise.  But it begs the question of what that means for the other big party.  Since the days when this nation elected an actor to play the President, the Democrats forgot their reason for being and, at their very best, became Republican Lites.  You remember when the word “liberal” was an epithet?  It could only be spoken with a sneer and tone of disgust.

In the past year, both my kids were studying American history and we would have nightly discussions about what the major political parties stood for.  Why did they exist?  These were difficult discussions, because I would talk about how they came into being, starting with the Federalists and Anti-Federalists.  There’s nothing better to help clarify the issues then going back to the source.

The problem was that the concepts belying the two major parties bears no resemblance to them today.  None.  They no longer reflect the principles that they espouse.  They are more caricatures then anything else.  And that is true of both of them, not just the party that I don’t favor.

Given the outcome of Andrew Sullivan’s study, is this an opportunity for the Democratic party to find its way again, to proclaim that liberalism offers America hope for its future?  As much as the Republicans are not shy about selecting judges based on their philosophy to undo the “tragic” decisions of the Warren and Burger Courts, why do Democrats suffer from a pathological fear of praising these Courts and these decisions that gave effect to constitutional guarantees?

The biggest political football facing the courts is Roe v. Wade, a decision that produce the correct result for the reasons that have always been problematic.  But for criminal defense lawyers, there are a wealth of decisions that have become so much a part of our practice that the very idea of living without them would be unthinkable.  What of Gideon, Miranda, Escobedo?  The names are so familiar that we need not cite the full case name.  They’re the Cher or Madonna of the law.  Could you imagine living without them today?

So, Howard Dean, are you listening?  Stop hiding behind the Republican skirts.  Stop denying what the Democratic party once stood for.  Be proud of your heritage.  Pull out that liberal moniker and wear it proudly.  State the party’s principles and be proud of them.  Let the American people have a real choice of ideals and approaches to the governance of our nation, instead of this mealy-mouthed, lilly-livered, gutless political party that offers nothing except “we’re not the Republicans.”  If the Democrats believe in something, anything, now would be a good time to let us know.