Traditionally, one of the most appealing features of the Democratic Party has been its members’ concern for people other than themselves.

Well-heeled Republicans may not have appeared to care for much other than their own tax rates, but Democrats have historically made a point of understanding that public policy should be based on a sense of “us” rather than just of “me.”

What’s become of this approach?

Today’s Democratic Party seems in too many cases to have become just an agglomeration of the previously excluded who, once ensconced in the party apparatus, have devoted themselves mainly to looking after their own interests.  A substantial portion of the electorate now perceives Democrats as not caring about anybody but feminists, gays, and minorities.

Emblematic of today’s Democratic Party are the gays in my own city who successfully sued to throw the Boy Scouts out of their accustomed meeting places in public schools, because the Scouts would not allow them to be scoutmasters.

I’ve tried to explain to gay activists not only the backlash effects and overall counter-productivity of such legal actions, but also the very human concerns and fears of parents.  I’ve tried to get them to see how nobody has anything more precious than their kids, and how, even if their fears are unwarranted and they’re being a bit overprotective, many parents are just very cautious about who they’ll allow their children to spend the night with off in the woods.

I’ve also pointed out that regardless of whether they pose any actual danger to the kids, for gay would-be scoutmasters to, in effect, force themselves on the Boy Scouts, to the extent that they actually throw them out of public schools, displays a me-centric focus on their own wants and needs--pushing the kids’ interests to the background--that raises legitimate, valid questions about their suitability as role models.

I’ve never gotten anywhere with these activists.  Nor have I seen many non-gay Democrats willing to take up the concerns of the mainstream with them.  The gays simplify vilify anybody who doesn't put gay interests first as despicable homophobes--and sometimes explicitly add that they don't want anybody like this in their party.

How can a party whose activists hold such a limited, me-centric view of the world hope to exert any continuing claim on our moral imagination--let alone achieve success at the polls?