Something is really rotten in Denmark when Bush invokes the name of Truman. Truman and his four-time elected predecessor, FDR spoke more to the common man than to the Rockefellers and Morgans. However over the decades, a funny thing happened on the way to the forum. The Democrats, perhaps seeking to out Republican the Republicans, drifted away from their New Deal roots into the warm embrace of Wall Street. Today the political map is divided between red states and blue states. But many citizens are in a gray area, not excited by, as one comedian says, Demopublicans or Republicrats. The 2006 election saw the Democrats narrowly capture the Congress but fully 60% of voters did not bother to turn out.

Laura Flanders
Laura Flanders is the host of the "Radio Nation" on Air America Radio. She is the author of "Real Majority, Media Minority" and "Bushwomen." Her latest book is "Blue Grit."