Mark Shields, the Democrat CNN pundit/activist, is worried that the public has caught on to the fact that the Democrats are pawns of their interest groups.

In explaining his opposition to Judge Roberts, Reid told the Senate he had been "very swayed" by the public testimony of, and his private meeting with, those civil rights and women's groups.

Enter Kim Gandy, president of the National Organization for Women, one of the groups with enormous influence in Democratic Party councils and whose organization had called President Bush's nomination of John Roberts, in measured language, "an outrage and an insult to the women of this country."

Did Gandy tell the press that Harry Reid, a pro—life Democrat from the Red State of Nevada, deserved praise for making an unpopular political decision? Of course not. NOW's president attributed Reid's move not to internal character, but to outside muscle, telling The New York Times, "He got the message loud and clear, didn't he?"

With friends like Kim Gandy, Harry Reid and the Democrats don't need any enemies.

Shields wants to Democrats to show some "guts" in publicly standing up to their backers. But he makes no mention of the financial dimension. The "party of the little guy" is in thrall to its big donors, while the GOP raises much more from small donors. This is something Shields doesn't want to think about.

Hat tip: Paul Shilchta

Thomas Lifson   9 26 05