Wanted: ideas, positions, belief. Contact Howard Dean.

I’m constantly amazed at the ideological wasteland that is the modern Democratic Party. Here’s David Broder in “Democrats in need of stances”:

When I interviewed Dean recently, he readily acknowledged that "people think they know what the Republicans stand for, and they can't say that about the Democrats." But he said he has his staff collecting ideas from Democratic officeholders, activists and contributors about the party's agenda, and he hopes at the DNC's September meeting in Phoenix to find agreement on "three or four broad things we all have in common," then use them in his speeches and on the Web.

On my favorite topic, Broder writes: “The tactic of not offering an alternative on a subject as vital as Social Security -- which makes sense in the legislative context -- does nothing to enhance the Democrats' reputation with the public.”