It's nice to see the two main factions of the Democratic party--liberals and New Democrats--burying the hatchet, and not in each other. Check out this article "Come Together" by Robert Kuttner and Will Marshall in the new issue of the The American Prospect. Kuttner, of course, is a founder of that magazine and a long-time stalwart of the labor-liberal wing of the party, while Marshall is President of the Progressive Policy Institute, the DLC's think tank.

Kuttner and Marshall have had some vigorous, not to say bitter, disagreements in the past, as New Democrats and liberals have squared off on topics ranging from economic policy to welfare reform to electoral strategy. But they're apparently thinking better of one another these days, as evidenced by the first two paragraphs of their article:

If liberals and New Democrats sometimes seem like the Hatfields and McCoys of center-left politics, it's because we each believe passionately that America's progressive soul is worth fighting for. For the most part, these debates within the family reflect principled disagreements about the best strategy for achieving both a just society and a progressive majority that embraces it. But though we still may disagree about some details, after years of radically conservative dominance of national politics, we find ourselves in vehement agreement with a simple proposition: The radical right is closing avenues of opportunity to working Americans.

This right-wing dominance, however, has produced a new unity on the progressive side. In this spirit, a group of us has gathered under a flag of truce to work out an alternative to Bushonomics: a progressive growth strategy for expanding the middle class.

The progressive growth strategy they lay out is a good one and, I would think, acceptable to almost anyone who cares to call themselves a Democrat. The four main elements of the strategy are:

1. Return fiscal sanity to Washington;

2. Don't starve government, feed innovation;

3. Reform the tax code for the benefit of working families; and

4. Expand the economic winners' circle.

Kuttner and Marshall provide specific ideas in each area that, again, all Democrats should find palatable and useful. By all means, read the article in full and see what you think. And if that whets your appetite for yet more party unity-oriented material, read E.J. Dionne's article in the same issue of the Prospect on "Democratic Detente". Dionne observes:

For two decades, the Democratic party has been riven by sharp ideological arguements. Those debates were in some respects necessary and important. But it's obvious that many of those conflicts are irrelevant to our moment, and say far more about the past than the future. The road to nowhere is paved with rote disputes between center and left.

Amen. Dionne then lists 10 "tired and useless arguments that progressives ought to stop having" along with "10 new ones that they should start making". Unfortunately, the article is not available online as yet, so you'll have to snag a copy of the print magazine to check out exactly what those arguments are. But I recommend you do so; it's worth the effort.