"We don't have to be more liberal," he said. "But we do have to be more relevant" Bill Clinton addresses the failure of the Democrats in the last election in today's NY Times. I agree with Clinton that the Democrats have made a serious mistake in ceding the issue of national security to the Republicans. They have avoided confronting Bush on what is commonly perceived to be his strongest issue. Yet I am increasingly convinced that he is strong on this issue ONLY because no one attacks him on it. In other words, Bush's foreign policy is his glass jaw. However, I think Clinton makes a mistake in criticizing the desire to "go left". You see, just as the Democrats are timid on foreign policy, their desire to not be perceived as "to left" also makes them timid on the issue of economic policy. They have to be strong on both fronts, and if "going left" is part of that then they should embrace it. Furthermore, one of the main reasons the Democrats are afraid to "go left" is that it might scare off their corporate contributions. But this just indicates that the Democrat Party is an addict strung out on a line of crank provided by Republican front-men via those same corporate contributions. As long as the Democrats live in fear of losing their supply they will NEVER be able to confront the Republicans head on about corporate corruption (especially in the news media).