William Galston and Elaine Kamarck, authors of a new report by the centrist group ‘Third Way,’ came to New Hampshire in October to argue that for Democrats to win, we must eschew the liberal base and instead hew to the tight center. They’re not only wrong, they're missing the point.

If leadership was about following, Galston and Kamarck might be correct. But the truth is leadership is about, oddly enough, leadership. Republicans are in power today because average Americans see clearly what they stand for, and they have no idea what most Democrats stand for. Unless courage and leadership is clearly apparent, we're not going to win in 2008 either.

Americans don't identify themselves as ‘voters.’ They are busy parents and hard workers. They don’t have time to digest complicated issue positions. Republicans know this, and I’ve never figured out why it’s so hard for Democrats to get it.

The mushy middle hoists nothing up the flagpole for people to see. Excuse me, but I think that’s a problem.

We Democrats have to be for, not just against. The fact is we have values, good traditional American values of which we should be proud. We need to articulate them forcefully, and in ways people with little time can understand and connect with.

Galston and Kamarck point out that the number of solidly conservative Republican voters is substantially larger than the reliably Democratic liberal base. Wow, what a revelation. That’s hardly enough to win the argument. With even Republican stalwarts today peeling off from the staggering incompetence of the Bush-Cheney-Rove-Rumsfeld administration, it's an opportunity for reassuring alternatives, which means courage and leadership.

Today, with the Bush agenda is crumbling more every day, there’s a vacuum of leadership. Where is the opposition party? Mr. Galston and Ms. Kamarck, that is our job as Democrats.

Galston and Kamarck argue that Democratic candidates should distance ourselves from teachers unions, feminists, doves and civil rights groups. Avoid standing up for an end to the insane war in Iraq? Let the radical right continue to define us? Sorry folks, no way. Let me repeat: it is time for an opposition party.

If Democrats don't, in our hearts, know that we can lead better on such issues as: building real national security which will make our families truly safer,fixing our national health insurance crisis, making the tax structure actually serve the common good, improving America's economic stability and competitiveness in the world, and the traditional values we cherish as Americans, well then we don’t deserve to be in power and lead.

But the fact is we do have good ideas and to timidly put our fingers to the wind to tell us which way we should go is nonsense. And it never works.

Centrists like Galston and Kamarck point to the success of Bill Clinton to make their case. But really now, ask any American, Did you like Bill Clinton because he was a centrist? Of course not. Clinton won because he connected with people. His sincerity came across. He did not follow, he led.

The same is true for John McCain: is his popularity due to his conservatism? Of course not. His support is not about what he stands for. It’s his image of courage and leadership. Americans see both men as leaders simply doing what they believe to be the right thing. What a concept.

Forget following the perceived wind. Wind is a result of energy or pressure, which has to start somewhere. Let’s do it. Stand up, speak from our hearts, embrace what we believe, and lead, dammit, lead! Unless we do, despite this unprecedented opportunity, we’ll lose again. And that our nation cannot afford.