This episode with the new White House Chief of Staff illustrates pretty clearly why leftist voters, among other groups, need a vehicle outside of the Democratic Party in which to register their dissent, i.e., America needs (at least) another political party and/or states' ballot access requirements for independent candidacies need to be made less onerous.  It's maddening enough when the Democratic Party can take certain constituencies' support--leftists, blacks, unionists, gays--for granted b/c those groups have nowhere else to go electorally.  Worse is when the Democratic leadership actually uses their base's ineffectual anger at having enabled or ratified Bush lawbreaking to score points with center/right voters, or, as Emanuel put it, to look more "bipartisan."  

Oh never mind.  kos is right, fuck Ralph Nader.