Will Democrats Face a 1994 Repeat in 2010?

In The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Napolean, Karl Marx is commonly quoted as stating that history tends to repeat itself, the first time as tragedy, the second time as farce. Some conservative commentators see hope in Marx’s dictum, and believe that the stimulus bill, mortgage bailout, and Obama’s budget, combined with a shaky economy, are setting Democrats on a course similar to the one they charted in 1994. If 1994 was a tragedy for Democrats, who were famously unsuccessful in their attempts to present themselves as “New” versions of the early liberal party, 2008 will be a complete farce, with Democrats happily portraying themselves as liberal caricatures, and wiping out the best chance they have had in a generation to reshape American policy.