The (non-GOP) elephant in the room

USA Today hits on my favorite topic in today's editorial (HT: RCP):

Not only must the next president calm the economic storm and successfully end the wars he inherits, he also must - finally - come to grips with the looming crises in Social Security and health care brought on by the aging of the Baby Boomers.

Simply "changing Washington," as compelling as the idea always is, won't be enough because the most poisonous byproduct of today's politics - its ceaseless peddling of the delusion that our problems can be solved at the expense of someone else - has seeped deep into the national psyche. The next president's toughest task could be persuading the nation to rediscover the sense of responsibility that led it to greatness.

Just as "only Nixon can go to China" maybe only an all-Democratic government can reform Franklin Delano Roosevelt's program before it bankrupts the country. On the other hand, the Democrats are so hard-wired to demagogue Social Security reform, it's unlikely they'll know how to start.