The question is on all Progressives' lips:  What issue can we claim for ourselves that mainstream voters find unifying as well as appealing in a bi-partisan manner?  Is there one that coincides with the core beliefs of Democrats, yet could hold an appeal for more moderate or even conservative voters?  Is there an area where Republicans are clearly out of step with mainstream America and where Democrats can be seen as being in step?

The answer to all these questions may be found in the policy issue of Democratization, or the promotion of Democracy abroad.  President Bush and the neoconservative leading faction of the Republican Party seemingly have abandoned cooperative and co-equal diplomacy and substituted aggressive promotion and establishment of so-called democratic governments as their main foreign policy thrust.

The success of this plank in the Republican platform under the neocons and this president can be deemed remarkably unsuccessful.  One has only to look at the single and primary example -- Iraq.  That is why Democratization is a superb issue on which to oppose Republican candidates.