Houses divided

The GOP’s shaky base has Democrats bickering among themselves over how to stage a mid-term election coup | Mark Bergin

Congressman Rahm Emanuel stormed out of Howard Dean's office in early May, a trail of expletives bubbling in his wake. The Illinois Democrat was reportedly displeased with the party's national committee chairman for blowing through gobs of midterm campaign cash on state races Democrats have no conceivable shot of winning.

After raking in contributions close to $75 million since the election cycle opened in 2005, Mr. Dean has subsequently drained party reserves to around $10 million, overseeing an ambitious effort to invade Republican strongholds. Mr. Emanuel's fury highlights a powerful contingent of congressional Democrats upset with Mr. Dean's leadership.

Such tension among party elites reflects a growing sense of Democratic dread that poor strategy might waste a chance to reverse the country's right-leaning political tilt. Mr. Emanuel admitted as much to The Washington Post, calling the upcoming midterm and presidential elections "a historic opportunity" and warning: "We can't squander it."