Sure, but, while they're undoubtedly cowards in general, it's also true that they can't accomplish much without a Democratic president.  I think next year we're likely to see at least a new Senate Majority Leader, because Harry Reid seems to have worn out his welcome.  (I'm hoping for Chris Dodd and dreading the prospect of Hillary Clinton.)  If it's Dodd, it'll be a step in the right direction.  That's not to say that Dodd is some kind of uber-liberal, but I think it's fair to say that he's not gutless.

Getting rid of Reid and Pelosi would be a good start.  I'm less optimistic about ditching Pelosi, since she seems to have a good bit more support among her colleagues, and knowing that she's earned at least some praise from the grassroots on issues like FISA thus far, even if she's been gutless on other issues.

We all know that with a Dem president and larger majority in Congress, health care will be a big issue.  (I'm not optimistic about bills like HR676 passing, but I do think we'll get something at least reasonably good.  Then again, if by some miracle Democrats grew a set and passed it, you can be sure the president would sign it.)  Iraq will be less of an issue, since the president controls the troops, and the Republicans thus can't really do anything but whine on it.  Beyond that, the program they should concentrate on should include the following: An infrastructure initiative, as a means to fixing things that need to be fixed while also coping with the recession and getting the energy plans out and rolling; rebalancing the tax code, and in particular, raising the capital gains tax and wiping out (or at least substantially raising) the cap on payroll taxes; and then perhaps one or two more big issues.

It's typically the case that a president will only accomplish two or three big things.  Doing those things in the first term would, in my view, be reasonable and make for an overall strong success.  More might be done, but I think that's putting the bar up at a decent level.

Be nice to America. Or we'll bring democracy to your country.