John Carroll has some Tips for Preventing a Dem Wimp-Out in today's Madison Capital Times.

The 108th Congress sworn in this week is the most conservative since the 1929 Congress that helped Herbert Hoover guide the United States into the Great Depression. I hope history will not repeat itself - even if the Bush camp's economic policies appear to have been borrowed from the most discredited of the old Republican playbooks. Opposing this administration's wrong-minded policies would be easy - and effective - if the Democratic Party had anything akin to a coherent set of progressive values. But, as the 107th Congress illustrated, the Democrats have a hard time being coherent or progressive - let alone effective.

Among his tips for Democrats seeking to reverse the Administration's policies is this one:

Challenge more than just judicial appointments: Bush will probably nominate at least one new Supreme Court justice in 2003, and the fight against that nominee is likely to be a defining moment. But congressional Democrats make a mistake when they limit nomination challenges to the judicial sphere.

Bush is packing federal positions with extremists on everything from abortion rights to environmental protection, and well-chosen battles to block nominees offer opportunities not just to block bad picks but to highlight bad policies. Bush's treasury secretary pick, CSX Corp. CEO John Snow, was just guaranteed a pension of $2.4 million a year for life, yet the administration wants to undermine pension regulations so corporations can reduce payments to retirees by as much as 50 percent. Why not oppose Snow unless he pledges to protect pensions for all Americans?

Confirmation hearings for Snow, a supposed critic of corporate wrongdoing, also provide a terrific opportunity to revisit the corporate corruption scandals that Democrats failed to exploit as an issue in 2002.

George W. Bush has governed for two years without opposition. As the 108th Congress convenes, Democrats must either mount an effective challenge to him, or they will find themselves in an even worse position when the 109th convenes.