Reply #4: I don't get this either...

[Tamyrlin79]

If you subscribe to the "political capital" frame, then every action can either yield dividends or a loss on our investment. If you pick the RIGHT things to act on, it will INCREASE your political capital, not spend it. That is why Barbara Boxer has gone up so much in my own personal estimation. Her political capital has increased because of her Jan. 6 and Condi Rice actions. She is more powerful now than she was the moment she walked in as a returning Senator this term. On Jan. 5, she could have called for a national effort for this or that and I would have "Ho Hummed" about it. But on Jan. 7, I would have answered her call without a doubt.

The fact is that the Dems are *RISK AVERSE* to the point of not being able to risk anything except on things they HAVE to spend capital on (like supreme court nominations) or they risk losing even MORE for doing nothing. This is, essentially, the democrats problem, the flaw in their perspective. They aren't investing what they have to increase what they will have in the future. They are so afraid of losing, that they won't risk anything to try and win.