The Democrats’ Impending Civil War

Everybody – and I do mean everybody – loves to talk about how Republicans are sniping, fighting, arguing about where the party is, where conservatism is, where they’re both going, whether they’re going the same direction, and whether they should or shouldn’t be doing those things.

And, of course, we are having exactly those arguments. And everybody loves to point it out. We’re so very divided.

Well:

In the high-stakes battle over health care, a growing cadre of liberal activists is aiming its sharpest firepower against Democratic senators who they accuse of being insufficiently committed to the cause.

I have to ask, because I’m that kind of nerd: should that “who” be a “whom?” I think maybe it should.

The attacks — ranging from tart news releases to full-fledged advertising campaigns — have elicited rebuttals from lawmakers and sparked a debate inside the party over the best strategy for achieving President Obama’s top priority of a comprehensive health-system overhaul.

The rising tensions between Democratic legislators and constituencies that would typically be their natural allies underscore the high hurdles for Obama as he tries to hold together a diverse, fragile coalition. Activists say they are simply pressing for quick delivery of “true health reform,” but the intraparty rift runs the risk of alienating centrist Democrats who will be needed to pass a bill.

In recent days — and during this week’s congressional recess — left-leaning bloggers and grass-roots organizations such as MoveOn.org, Health Care for America Now and the Service Employees International Union have singled out Democratic Sens. Ben Nelson (Neb.), Mary Landrieu (La.), Ron Wyden (Ore.), Arlen Specter (Pa.) and Dianne Feinstein (Calif.) for the criticism more often reserved for opposition party members.

“Will Mary Landrieu sell out Louisiana for $1.6 million?” says one Internet ad that suggests a link between contributions she has received from the medical industry and her reluctance to back the creation of a government-sponsored insurance option.

We’re Americans. We argue. It’s what we do. So let’s: quit beating ourselves up over it on the conservative/Republican side; and let’s hear a little more angst about it on the liberal/Democrt side.

Via Memeorandum.