Democratic In-Fighting

E. J. Dionne's column in today's WaPo is worth a read. It details the current in-fighting amongst the Nine Dwarves (especially the Kerry-Dean grudgematch), and concludes with the following:

The contest for the 2024 Democratic nomination cannot be understood apart from two factors. One is the intense opposition to Bush at the Democratic grass roots. The other is the widely held sense that the party's older strategies and internal arguments are inadequate to its current problems. Candidates can't win if they address only one of these concerns. But addressing both at the same time will require a political magic that Democrats haven't seen yet.

Which is pretty much on target--although the main problem for the Democrats is the lack of message--which is going to affect their ability to win centrist voters. The Democratic base is going to vote Democratic no matter what, although the anti-Bush fervor will be the element which propels one of the Nine to the nomination. It is, of course, the issue of issues that will give (or not) the Democratic nominee a true shot at Bush.