In this week’s Tech Central Station column, I make the case that the Democrats — if they want to fix their values problem — should pick up the school choice issue where President Bush has left off:

Republicans have long owned the issue of school choice, at least at the national level. But Bush has done his worst to leave an opening for the Democrats here. In his first term, he signed the No Child Left Behind law, which did little or nothing to promote school choice. And now, in the past week, he has appointed an education secretary, Margaret Spellings, who is known to be all-but-hostile to vouchers and charter schools.

If Democrats had any sense, they would see that now is the time to strike — hitting Bush from the left and the right at the same time on a values-laden domestic issue.

All Democrats have to do, it turns out, is follow the lead of minority politicians from the inner cities who have jumped on the choice bandwagon.

Whole thing here.