Democrats: Good Ideas

After the November election it seemed that the Democratic Party could hardly work itself into a greater state of disarray. That was before last week. The 378-member Democratic National Committee appeared to indulge in more than the usual amount of fractiousness in electing a new national chairman.

Some outsiders wondered who would want the job, anyway. But the national committee finally settled on Paul G. Kirk Jr., 47, a Washington and Boston lawyer who used to work for Sen. Edward M. Kennedy and ran Kennedy’s 1980 presidential campaign. In recent years Kirk has been the party’s treasurer.

It was another victory for the coalition politics of the industrial Northeast over the West and the South. Kirk’s foes claimed that he was too strongly identified with the party’s old ideas. But he is well regarded by those who have dealt with him, even if they do not share his philosophy. The party will be served well if Kirk can deliver on his promises, including a muting of the raucous voices of special-interest caucuses and an enlisting of fresh talent from the grass roots outside Washington.

Broadening the base is a good new idea. Shortly after his election, Kirk said that fairness remains “the fundamental bottom line” of the party. That is a good old idea that should never go out of style.