That is good news

Here’s the synopsis of this Sunday’s New York Times magazine, as Slate sees it:

Matt Bai's cover article argues that since the 2004 elections, Democrats have been smart in focusing less on new ideas and more on how to frame them. Where Republicans once ruled Congress with "tax relief" and "partial-birth abortion," the Dems held their own in the recent filibuster battle with "abuse of power" and "checks and balances." At the center of the vocabulary makeover is George Lakoff, a linguist-turned-political sensation. Lakoff's advice is taken seriously within the party, yet Bai thinks perhaps "Democrats are still unwilling to put more concrete convictions about the country into words, either because they don't know what those convictions are or because they lack confidence in the notion that voters can be persuaded to embrace them."

Oh. My. Heck. This is how far the Democrats have fallen: they have to choose between having no convictions or hiding them from an uncomprehending electorate. And Matt Bai thinks this is good news! Bon chance framing the issues (you have no opinion on) in 2006, Dems.