Dems: Go for Broke or Stay Put?

With voters staying home from the polls, Democrats are left wondering whether to appeal to the liberal wing of the party by pushing hard on health-care reform and climate change, or to pull back and pursue a middle-of-the-way agenda that will appeal to moderates and independents. “We have to do something, but it has to be right,” said one first-term Democratic representative. “We must deliver. I need to give Democrats something to be excited about," said Rep. Gerald E. Connolly, Democrat of Virginia. Republicans said Wednesday that their victories in Virginia and New Jersey indicated that voters were unhappy with the Democratic agenda.