Today's Most Important Read

From this morning's Washington Times:

Loss of middle class a 'crisis' for Democrats

The Democratic Party, the self-proclaimed defender of the middle class, was trounced by Republicans among those voters in the 2004 election, according to a Democratic advocacy group that says the party faces "a crisis with the middle class."

A report released yesterday by Third Way says support for Republicans begins at much lower income levels than researchers had expected: Among white voters, President Bush got a majority of support beginning at an income threshold of $23,300 -- about $5,000 above the poverty level for a family of four.

The report says the economic gains of Hispanics have translated into strong Republican gains, as have economic strides across every category, save for black voters.

Laura Ingraham put the report in proper perspective today. It should tell the GOP to stop pandering for acceptance and get on with the two big jobs at hand: Fixing the dysfunctional courts, and cutting federal spending.

As important as this story is, it did not show up on the Web sites of the LA Times (although "Democrats Propose Income Tax Hike" did), the NYTimes, or the WashPost. Un-bee-leeeve-a-ble.