A grim reality sits behind the joyful press statements from Washington Democrats. To secure passage of health care legislation in the House, the party chose a course that risks the well-being of millions of women for generations to come.

CIRCLE's new working paper, Spiral of Rebellion: Conflict Seeking of Democratic Adolescents in Republican Counties, "shows a striking pattern of Democratic youth thriving in political expression and debate when exposed to Republican ideological climates." The study compares Democratic adolescents to Republican adolescents, and further breaks down the comparison into those living in Democratic, balanced, and Red counties. They found that Democratic youth were more politically expressive than Republican youth, and that Democratic youth in Republican areas were more expressive than those living in blue or balanced areas. A couple findings of note:

While many were celebrating the historical nature of the House vote there are also reasons for real Democrats to temper celebration. Of course, we all know the ripping the House version, which actually did include some good things will get in the "House of Lords" we all know as the U.S. Senate. Of course, we know that we actually have a paltry majority in the Senate or quite possibly still a Republican majority, but the House Healthcare vote should give us a sobering reminder of just how small of a majority we have in the House.

"Republicans already let the world know they will unanimously oppose the health care bill tonight, but now they are mocking Democratic divisions as more members of the majority party announce they can't support the plan in its current form."

The Republican Party is imploding. Democrats should take no glee in the mess on the right, unless they play it right. It should be seen as a warning bell: Let the Republicans fracture into two parties, but it is critical that liberals fix – and maintain – the Democratic Party, and thus retain a majority that can advance a progressive agenda. We must not allow a party schism to occur in the Democratic Party.

In New Jersey, New York, and Virginia both statewide elections and an election with national implications took place. Republicans claim victory in Governor's races in New Jersey and Virginia, while Democrats won a national Congressional seat held by Republicans since the days of U.S. Grant. Now, pundits on both sides and no side are spinning, and putting their own interpretation on the results.

The Democratic party doesn't have the luxury of settling for a 'base hit' in a game in which there are only home runs. For the Democrats, that is! The GOP has the luxury of just putting a man on base! Democrats don't have the luxury of nominating anything less than a JFK or an FDR.

Between 2004 and 2008 progressive youth organizations were building a strategy and infrastructure to turn out young voters and engage them in issue advocacy outside of elections. Major progressive donors seemed to realize the latent power of the youth vote and the need to catch up with the conservative funding machine that supports conservative youth.

An old foe is proving once again why Progressives dispelled him from our party. Yes, Joe Lieberman is rearing his ugly head again in the healthcare fight. Unfortunately for us, he has an adoring little tribe of Corporate Democrats in the Senate who seem prepared to sink any kind of public option.

It’s official. The Blue Dog’s fundraising slowdown was not just a symptom of the dog days of summer. Newly released public disclosure forms indicate that over September, the coalition’s PAC took in its smallest monthly total yet this year.

"Continuing into the letter, Mr. Obama emphasizes that “in communities all across America, people are worried about whether they’re going to have a job and paycheck to count on.” But he has done nothing to support the card check reform to facilitate workers forming unions—an objective he supported during his presidential campaign. Still no push on Congress, no ringing statement of support, as he has uttered numerous times in promoting his various bailouts of Big Business."

As the chairmen of the appropriations panels, Obey and Inouye lead the committees which directly control federal spending. Should the two senior lawmakers end up staking out opposing views on the war, it could set up a tug-of-war on Capitol Hill on defense issues right as President Obama is to decide on a new strategy for U.S. involvement in the eight-year-old conflict.

Republicans are already salivating at their chances for gains in 2010. In my opinion, I think they overestimate their own position in the minds of voters. Their chances largely hinge on the hope that voters will completely forget what has gotten this country in the huge mess it was facing when Barack Obama took office. While Republicans now seek to blame Obama for the crashed economy and the high unemployment rate, they insult the American intelligence by assuming that we all just forgot who crashed the economy and cost all those millions of jobs.

U.S. House of Representatives member Robert Wexler of Boca Raton, a self-described ``fire-breathing liberal,'' defender of Israel and friend of both President Barack Obama and Gov. Charlie Crist, is quitting Congress to head a think tank seeking peace in the Middle East.In a conference call Tuesday night with Democratic leaders, Wexler said he will become director of the Washington-based Center for Middle East Peace and Economic Cooperation. Wexler, 48, is expected to make a public statement about his plans at a 10 a.m. Wednesday press conference at his Boca Raton office.The jockeying to represent his heavily Democratic congressional district began in earnest Tuesday as the news of his departure began to leak out. Once Wexler's resignation becomes official, state law requires Crist to call a special election. That can leave candidates little time to raise funds and campaign, and sometimes makes for an unpredictable and chaotic race.

Show me some civility, Republicans cried Friday after a Missouri congressman speaking on the House floor was caught on microphone apparently cussing out a fellow Missourian. Armed Services Committee Chairman Ike Skelton, D-Mo., had just finished addressing his Republican colleague Todd Akin Thursday. Skelton then turned to the side and muttered "stick it up your ass."

"No Democrat who voted to continue funding Obama’s wars should be re-elected. No Democrat who continues to support bailing out the Wall Street criminals should be re-elected. No Democrat who opposes single-payer or a very strong public option should be re-elected. We must no longer tolerate the lame excuse that we are voting for the “lesser of two evils.” That is still voting for an “evil.” We must tell Democrats that we will only vote for candidates who truly represent us, not corporate contributors."

Most Americans believe the war in Afghanistan so far has been unsuccessful and oppose sending more troops, according to a new nationwide poll conducted by Clarus Research Group, a nonpartisan polling and research firm based in Washington.

Democrats, particularly in the Senate, have made a real effort to make it look like the GOP is forcing them to surrender to insurance companies in health care reform. Reality is just a bit different, particularly in the Senate where Democrats have a filibuster-proof majority.

The week’s events began with a declaration to the Observer by Chancellor Alistair Campbell that the party looked like it had “lost the will to live.” On the evening it began, the election results in Germany came through, with the Social Democrats polling just 23 percent, recording their worst result since World War II.

This week the House Majority Leader came out strongly against revoking the telecom amnesty passed in last year's FISA Amendment Act. Taken together with his other major policy positions, has anyone done more active harm to the left's priorities?