that this is Mr. Bush's thinking as well. The Democrats need credible surrogates to start talking up a different policy. They can be from well outside the beltway, but the fact is that the only real alternatives to neoconservativism and liberal internationalism are coming from the libertarians and from the paleocons. Badnarik is the only candidate this year who's made an issue of empire. Where's the left on this question? The new left of the late 60s and early 70s was obsessed with the issue of empire, and were about 30-40 years ahead of their time. They all seem to have either become mainstream liberals or in rare cases neocons, but as much as Democrats arguably didn't need those voices then, they need them now. America needs them now.