Something to consider...

When we speak of the need for visible "leadership" in the GOP, what do we mean? Surely we aren't saying that Steele or Gingrich or McConnell or Boehner aren't doing all they can, are we?

I spent a couple of minutes this morning watching Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) "do his stuff" on the Senate floor. He's not making friends, on either side of the aisle... but he's making his point very visibly and he's doing it in ways that everyone can see. Is that leadership? Maybe not... but it isn't hurting the Dem cause, either.

His recent exchange with Sen Thune (R-SD) is a good example. He's arguing a losing point, I'm sure, but he's also making himself look like a crusader and someone who is getting things done. I'm not saing he's right... in fact, the point he is arguing is going to come back and bite him in the ass in the very near future. He is demanding that those debating bills on the floor must have read them first, and we all know that the Democratic agenda right now won't allow ANYONE to read entire 1000+ page bills with hundreds and thousands of earmarks each BEFORE they are voted on. If the conservative element only holds him (and the rest of the Dems) to the same standard set by the Honorable Senator from Minnesota, we'd go a long way to stopping some pretty crappy legislation in its tracks.

I'm saying that we don't have conservative voices doing for the conservative cause what Franken is doing for the liberal cause... making it part of the everyday experience of the average American. This isn't the sort of thing I think we can blame on the "mainstream media" either... C-Span is pretty non-partisan in its presentation, and everything I have seen has been via C-Span.

If we all agree that the agenda of the liberals in America is a fundamentally flawed position from the start, then how hard can it be to expect someone in a position within the Congress (or anywhere, for that matter) to articulate the concerns and points of the conservatives from the floor of the House or Senate?

Now, to counter my point, I submit that Franken did, indeed, step on his male reproductive organs when he shot down Leiberman's request for more time to articulate his additions to the defense bill... but it wasn't enough of a gaff to counter his rather pointed exchange with Thule.

Where is the conservative voice screaming from the floor?