The party faithful.

A huge round of applause and thanks to Amy Sullivan for revealing the truth that Democrats are not yet ready for the trash pile of history. ("Not as Lame as You Think," May). The MSM really needs to wake up and notice what's happening out here in the grassroots and net roots, hundreds of miles from Beltway Land. Local Democratic Party leaders need to hear the good news too. In my county Democratic committee in Pennsylvania, there is excitement at having more volunteers than ever before, and stronger candidates than we've had in years. We have hopes of beating entrenched incumbent Republicans for the first time in 20 years.

NINA WALLS

Ridley Park, Pa.

Great article. Unfortunately, it probably won't get much traction with the general public. It seems, as Ms. Sullivan mentions, that the prevailing wisdom is difficult to dislodge in the public mind. It's taken rather a few too many mistakes by the current administration to dislodge the perception that they're a "well-oiled machine," just as it will likely require some time to dispel the notion that the Democratic Party has no ideas. Unfortunately, if you've stuck to the same principles of being the party of the people versus the party of big business, there's no news to report. The Democrats' development of policy to adapt to changing realities over the course of time is much less interesting than the flamethrower conservatives' hijacking of the Republican Party. Hopefully this misperception will be replaced in time for November.

RICHARD HAMMOND 

Via email

Amy Sullivan's article manages to scrape together all of the available examples of Democratic non-malfeasance to paint a portrait of impending pertinence. But the overwhelming fact is that the Democrats continue to fail in mounting meaningful resistance to any of the Republicans' major policy initiatives. It is the decline of Republican ability to generate coherent policies in the face of their increasing division, corruption and blithe arrogance that increases the appearance of Democratic competence.

The reason is obvious: The Democratic Party has become "Republican Lite." They get the same money from the same mechanisms developed by Republican operatives following the post-Watergate campaign reforms passed by Democratic majorities in the 1970s. Democrats must pipe the tunes that industry donors pay for, while lip-synching the populist platitudes that none of them abide by. It is a charade that has worn itself out.

Democrats are ineffectual because they lack the true convictions that drive meaningful policy. The Republicans have become ineffectual because they have the wrong convictions. Now, at last the consequences of their dunderheadedness and criminality are coming home to roost.

STEVEN BIDLAKE

Bend, Ore.

I want to thank Amy Sullivan for highlighting the ways the Democratic Party has operated with guts, strategy, and political savvy. It gives me a needed shot of hope. But as for letting Pelosi and crew off the hook on the Louise Slaughter report, I just don't buy it. I tried for three straight days to get a copy of the report. I called both Pelosi's and Slaughter's offices to no avail. Why didn't their staffers explain why it wasn't available? Why couldn't they keep it on the "leaders'" Web site?

If there is a grand plan, perhaps we are being kept in the dark as cover for the party, so the Republican spotlight doesn't expose the strategy. I sure hope so. Because it gets awfully tiring out here wondering if there is anyone running the show.

GERRI CALDAROLA

Kentfield, Calif.

Amy Sullivan replies:

After trying to clear up this question ourselves, we share Ms. Caldarola's frustration with the offices of both Minority Leader Pelosi and Congresswoman Slaughter. In the article, I wrote about the routine rotation of the Slaughter report from Pelosi's homepage, which does indeed appear to have been uninfluenced by Republican criticism of the report. (The report is still available on Slaughter's website.) But the report was removed from Pelosi's webpage after the House Franking Office opened an investigation into its propriety--a fact about which neither Democratic office was very open.

I stand by my criticism of liberal bloggers who are quick to view congressional Democrats through the conventional prism that says they are weak and feckless. In this case, however, the Democratic leadership did not act with either transparency or confidence.