Boxer's rebellion and Democrats' new tone

[NVMojo]

WASHINGTON – Still smarting from the loss of their party leader in November's vote, Senate Democrats are setting a deliberately lower and softer profile at the start of the 109th Congress - except for the ones tossing bombs.
The leading flamethrower would be Sen. Barbara Boxer, who rocked the opening days of the session by initially blocking the presidential electoral vote count and, more recently, by ripping into Secretary of State-designate Condoleezza Rice during her Senate confirmation bid.

The contrast between Senator Boxer's moves and the more modulated tones of the party's new Senate leadership team is partly a matter of personal style, but it also reflects the challenge that Democrats face as the minority party after an election that left many shellshocked. They want to expand their reach into the American electorate and avoid the "obstructionist" label, while reassuring core activists that the party is not going soft.

"It's the old good cop, bad cop routine: The leadership will take the high road, and others will aggressively oppose every move of the Bush administration," says Marshall Wittmann, a former GOP adviser now with the Democratic Leadership Council. "A sophisticated opposition doesn't take just one approach."

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http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0126/p01s02-uspo.html