While most Democrats are trying to tailor their party’s message for the midterm elections in an attempt to take back the House and Senate, a small group of Democrats are focusing on the long term. Democratic speechwriters/authors Kenneth Baer and Andrei Cherny unveil a new magazine today titled “Democracy: A Journal of Ideas.” The goal is to help formulate new thoughts for the party and “re-energize progressive politics.”

The pair argues that Democrats need to “update their ideas about government in the 21st Century and stop living off the New Deal legacy.” Baer and Cherny readily acknowledge the magazine is modeled after conservative publications such as “Commentary,” “National Interest,” and “Public Interest” that helped spawn ideas such as supply-side economics and compassionate conservatism. Baer, who served as senior speechwriter to former Vice President Al Gore, and Cherny who was director of speechwriting for Sen. John Kerry’s (D-Massachusetts) presidential campaign, launch the magazine at a news conference (see details below in Day ahead) this afternoon.