Did I Miss Something?

Here's Kevin Drum's take on the politics of the illegal wire tapping done by Bush. Remember, Kevin is on our side:

This whole thing is kind of depressing, isn't it? I don't mean in just the obvious sense, but also in the sense that this issue seems like such a clear loser for Democrats. Once again the president will be allowed to paint this as an issue of either wholeheartedly supporting the fight against terrorism or else being one of those whiny liberals who's allied with Osama in all but name. That the real issue is that Bush secretly broke the law instead of getting congressional authorization for it — which would have been a slam dunk for any remotely reasonable program — will end up lost in a whirlwind of the jingoistic bloviating we've come to expect from Fox News and Dick Cheney.

Huh?

Let's see. The President performs an impeachable offense and the best Kevin Drum can see is that Dems will be painted as whiny? Granted, at times the Dems have been quite adept at snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. But isn't Kevin pretty much repeating, in fact expanding, on G.O.P. talking points? And excuse me Kevin, but isn't your response just the type of analysis that leads to the outcome you predict?

When are "centrists" Democrats gonna get it. It's not the issue. It's how you message the issue. Sure, if Democrats go around citing federal code in cool analytical tones, they'll come across like wimps. But what happens if we let Paul "Bush is a son-of-a-bitch" Hackett give the Democratic response? Suppose Dems spend some pundit time incensed at the Constitutional violations, outraged at the breaches on privacy for ordinary Americans. Just suppose the Dems respond aggressively to Bush's illegal activities?

I know this may be outside the DLC/Bob Shrum playbook. But then again, it's time for a new team anyway.