Pelosi doesn't expect her party to repeat the Republican gains of 1994. But she says the current climate "is making it far easier for us to do the three R's -- recruiting candidates, raising money and rapid response on what the Republicans are doing."

And yet the obstacles are higher. For one, legislative redistricting has made the advantages of incumbency greater. With little more than a dozen House districts clearly competitive next year, Democrats have a steep climb ahead. In the Senate, Democrats have more seats to defend while also vacating three of the four open seats, leaving the upper chamber likely to remain under Republican control.

Despite the terrain, Democrats paint a party confident that large inroads can be made in Congress in 2006, with the hope of taking the reins of power in 2008. "We were at the bottom," Shrum said. "We are a quarter of the way up the hill. People say, why aren't they at the summit? Well, you don't get to the summit of the hill, you don't get the election results, until you get to next November."

For Democrats to make a large gain in Congress next year, Shrum argues that they will "have to make sure we don't warn our candidates" to be overly temperate and shy away from blunt rhetoric. "I believe we too often did in 2002," he added. "The institutional bureaucracy of the party was warning candidates to be very cautious and careful in what they said. And I think that hurt in a number of places."

Whether it's blunt rhetoric, or just different rhetoric, Democrats know they must show not only what they stand against but also what they stand for. "We need to redefine our message and speak more confidently about values," New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, a Democrat, told Salon. "We need to expand the definition of values: the right to healthcare, the right to eliminate poverty, the right have a good education for every child."

While congressional Democrats will rely on their role as the opposition to define themselves, a national grassroots effort is afoot to emphasize populist themes in recasting Democrats as a values-based party. "Our problem is not of the heart or of the head; it's of the communication," Pelosi said. "It is not about using biblical terms in our speeches, or telling them how faithful we are; it's about how values are reflected in public policy."

In the hope of reframing the Democratic agenda, the Democratic National Committee under Howard Dean is focusing on so-called values voters. At the DNC executive meeting last Saturday in Washington, strategist Cornell Belcher told the 64 members that Democrats have "been painted as anti-religion," but that "the Republicans in Congress and this White House are moving in a direction that, in fact, faith voters didn't mandate for them to move."

Following Belcher, DNC chairman Howard Dean told the committee that "if voters understand what we believe in, we are going to win."

"We have not spoken about moral values in this party for a long time," Dean said, speaking with the passion that won him the DNC chair. "The truth is, we're Democrats because of our moral values. It's a moral value to make sure that kids don't go to bed hungry at night. It is a moral value to pay off debt, not add to it. It is a moral value to take care of senior citizens who have been struggling throughout their working life and to guarantee decent Social Security income."

Belcher and Shrum both argue that Democrats must soon redefine themselves on what could be called a "neopopulism" that doesn't oppose wealth but advocates policies that empower the working and middle classes. "We are in the process of doing that," Pelosi said. "We will be pivoting on that; we have that in the works. But right now the focus is on the Bush Social Security plan, it's on Iraq, it's on the deficit."

Republicans will certainly attempt to discredit Democrats trying to woo voters on populist rhetoric. As the Democrats did in 1994, Republicans are hammering Democrats today as little more than a legislative wrench. Last week in a statement, House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., said, "Democratic leaders must be living in their own fantasy land to believe that obstructing progress will do anything to help the American people."

Richardson, the New Mexico governor, says Democrats must articulate their own plan for progress. "Sometimes, I believe, we are a bit headstrong in criticism of the Republicans without offering initiatives of our own," he said. Though partisans may differ on whether Democrats' "obstructionist" actions are best for voters, nonaligned political analysts believe it is tactically best for the Democratic Party.

"It is preferable and desirable to have a positive agenda, but I think it is absolutely necessary as the out party to make the election about the in party," said Stu Rothenberg, of the nonpartisan Rothenberg Political Report. "The Republicans in 1994 blocked Democratic initiatives and complained about gridlock. They also already had negative stuff, such as the Clinton healthcare plan, and it worked pretty well. The atmospherics are right for a Democratic year in 2006. The voters are dissatisfied with the direction of the country and not particularly pleased with the president."

Neither are voters happy with Congress as it stands under Republican control. The Gallup Organization's most recent polling found that 59 percent of Americans disapprove of the Republican-controlled Congress, levels unseen since President Bush took office. Nonetheless, voters' frustration remains short of Americans' perception of Congress in the summer of 1993. By July of that year, fully 65 percent of voters disapproved of the Democratic Congress. The poor approval ratings held steady for about a year, until by October 1994, as Election Day neared, fully 70 percent of Americans disapproved of how Democrats were running Congress.

Poor opinion of Congress in 1994 translated into a 54-seat Republican gain. The GOP took control of House for the first time since 1952. More telling, of the 34 incumbents who lost their seats in 1994, all were Democrats.

Democratic aspirations for similar success depend on "branding," as Pelosi put it.

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