After watching the Democratic Debate on MSNBC yesterday I came to a few realizations. First, the debate cemented my sincere belief that, if elected, everyone on that stage would take the country into new and better directions. Second, the debate cemented my belief that most Democrats still need  to grow some (for lack of a better word) Balls. From Iraq, Health Care, Minimum Wage, and Climate Change, Americans are with us on the issues. Yet, we arent pushing those agendas nearly as much as we should.

In the last two weeks major Republican figures spouted grotesque absurdities. Former speaker of the house, Newt Gingrich, claimed last week that the tragic shooting at Virginia Tech was caused by liberalism. This week, presidential candidate and former Mayor of NYC Rudy Giuliani stated that a Democratic president would increase the chance of a second 9-11 type attack on the U.S. While Harry Reid was taking a beating for saying the war is lost, these disgraceful statements went largely un-scrutinized in the media and by Democrats. Why? The Republicans are a loud minority. Every chance they get, they attack, lie, and spin in order to make the Democrats look bad. Lately they have had to resort to making absurd statements because they have no issues on their side.

It's  time for Democrats to become a loud majority. Its time for us stress the issues that affect everyday Americans. It's time for us to underscore the inexcusable Republican failures over the last six years. And its time for us to fight back when we are attacked by revolting calculated lies. One of John Kerry' biggest mistakes was not effectively responding to ridiculous attacks. It is imperative that similar mistakes are not made in '08.

We have the issues on our side. We have the American people on our side. And now it's time for our candidates to have the guts to speak and defend the truth.