Harry Reid is a Poo-Poo Head

The public tug of war among Democrats this week over the Supreme Court nomination of Judge John G. Roberts Jr. underscores the conflicting pressures facing Democratic leaders as they try to satisfy a growing cadre of activists anxious to battle President Bush while avoiding the appearance of being captives of their most vocal constituencies.

The debate over what to do about Roberts is the latest in a series of disagreements over the past three years pitting the party’s Washington-based leaders against traditional liberal advocacy groups or the newer world of grass-roots activists stitched together through e-mail and Web logs…

There are also abiding tensions over what political strategy might be most effective in carrying the party back to power. Some elected officials, according to critics, have been slow to appreciate how the power balance in the Democratic coalition has shifted — away from established interests and toward citizen activists who tend toward a more aggressive brand of politics.

Party leaders in Washington trying to manage this unruly alliance as they prepare for Roberts’s confirmation hearings face a delicate choice, according to party strategists and other analysts. They can risk heading into the 2006 midterm elections with a demoralized base. Or they could potentially turn off swing voters, who may view Bush’s nominee in less ideological terms and could recoil at a party they perceive as driven by die-hard activists.

Rank-and-file Democrats “want the Washington party to fight every day on every issue and to fight more effectively and better,” said Simon (::cough:: pneis haed ::cough::) Rosenberg, co-founder of the New Politics Institute, a think tank for progressive politics and new technology. “The truth is, it’s going to be hard to fight and win every battle. . . . It’s finding that right balance that’s going to be the art of keeping our coalition together over the next few years.”

Celinda Lake, a Democratic pollster, said signs of passivity among Democratic elected leaders on Roberts’s nomination are causing genuine distress among activists. “Swing voters aren’t very focused on the court,” she said, “but contributors and activists are, and think it’s an issue that doesn’t play a prominent enough role.” Sizable Democratic support for Roberts’s confirmation, she added, would be “very detrimental” for party morale.