Why don't the Democrats use the term "Partisan" against the Republicans?

[Jade Fox]

Like just now, when the Republicans are moving to block the Plame
investigation. It doesn't get any more partisan than that.

[niceypoo]

1. Because the republicans might throw a fit.......

then Leiberman and Zell would be upset

[applegrove]

2. Because they are ***holes & liars & hypocrites.

[ET Awful]

3. Because, to borrow a phrase from George Galloway, . . .

the Democratic lawmakers are kind of like a shiver looking for a spine to crawl up.

[Totally Committed]

4. Short answer: They are idiots. n/t

TC

[freestyle]

5. Because partisan is not a bad word.

Democrats need to be proudly partisan. We need to say, dammit our party stands for important things like equal rights, economic opportunity, protecting the environment and the other party does not. We won't yield on those things important to our party because our ideas are better for the huge majority of Americans. If not selling our fellow Americans down the river makes us partisan, than we are partisan and damn proud of it.

[PATRICK]

6. MIsmanaging the dialog

They don't want to be perceived as partisan themselves. Small victory for DLC fuzzy thinking. Considering the facts they get labeled anyway, the fact that they must slip up once in a while and talk like an opposition party, and that the factor of lack of confidence and respect from a large part of the public comes from their inability to forcefully assert dissent- they have enormously greater problems than PC etiquette in Foggy Bottom.

Tongue tied and relaxed in wrong headed avoidance of unpleasant terms because their focus groups or whatever tell them so. This is the third way road kill dilemma. Get out of the middle of the road kids! In the headlights? Frozen? Or what?

I suspect decent Dems are not that politically competent and horror of horrors, their choice of managers and advisers are not qualitatively better. When they try to take the confrontational road they sound awkward and blunder like Dan Rather on the AWOL story. Then back off and get silently destroyed. The other side is not that good, just unopposed bluster without an opponent on the same gameboard.