Even those of us who are not Democrats have an interest in seeing that party become a healthy, rational, compelling opposition. Competition is a good thing, in politics as in sports or business. It would be nice for libertarians, centrists, moderate conservatives, and other persuadable folks on the right and in the center to feel at least a little conflicted at the ballot box.

But to do that, the Democrats have to persuade a larger chunk of the electorate that they are as ruthless as the Republicans in fighting the war on terror. And that’s why Peter Beinart, editor of the New Republic, deserves applause for his recent essay, “A Fighting Faith.” He takes the first step in a long overdue process: the exorcism of Michael Moore from the Democratic Party’s body politic.

Mr. Moore does not oppose President Bush’s policies because he thinks they fail to effectively address the terrorist threat; he does not believe there is a terrorist threat. For Mr. Moore, terrorism is an opiate whipped up by corporate bosses. In “Dude, Where’s My Country,” he says it plainly: “There is no terrorist threat.” And he wonders, “Why has our government gone to such absurd lengths to convince us our lives are in danger?”

Today, most liberals naively consider Mr. Moore a useful ally, a bomb-thrower against a right wing that deserves to be torched. What they do not understand is that his real casualties are on the decent left.

When Mr. Moore opposes the war against the Taliban, he casts doubt upon the sincerity of liberals who say they opposed the Iraq war because they wanted to win in Afghanistan first. When Mr. Moore says terrorism should be no greater a national concern than car accidents or pneumonia, he makes it harder for liberals to claim that their belief in civil liberties does not imply a diminished vigilance against Al Qaeda.

Since its posting December 2, Mr. Beinart’s piece has spurred some discussion among left-of-center bloggers like Mickey Kaus and Kevin Drum, but the reaction has mostly focused on the Iraq war and why the public isn’t buying into Democrats’ national security policies. There have been few arguments about Mr. Moore and how he has emerged as an unshaven and loud face of the Democrats today, the highest-profile and perhaps least persuasive voice among the party’s angriest and most leftist members.

If anything, Mr. Beinart might be a little too kind to Mr. Moore. He doesn’t mention the filmmaker’s most repulsive comments, like his comments on September 12, 2001: “If someone did this [the WTC attack] to get back at Bush, then they did so by killing thousands of people who DID NOT VOTE for him! Boston, New York, DC, and the planes’ destination of California – these were places that voted AGAINST Bush!”

As if what mattered at that moment was the political affiliation of the thousands of victims.

Then there was his oft-repeated comment from March 14 of this year: “The Iraqis who have risen up against the occupation are not ‘insurgents’ or ‘terrorists’ or ‘The Enemy.’ They are the REVOLUTION, the Minutemen, and their numbers will grow – and they will win.”

Once you have compared Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi to George Washington, most persuadable voters will tune you out.

Then the world witnessed the surreal phenomenon of Osama bin Laden, on videotape, referring to “Fahrenheit 9/11″‘s depiction of Mr. Bush listening to a girl reading “My Pet Goat.” One wonders if the world’s most wanted terrorist had time to catch “Bowling for Columbine,” too.

Mr. Moore has some far-from-the-mainstream views on economics as well, writing in his book “Dude, Where’s My Country” that “Horatio Alger must die.”

He wrote, “We’re addicted to this happy rags-to-riches myth in this country. People elsewhere in other industrialized democracies are content to make a good enough living to pay their bills and raise their families. Few have a cutthroat desire to strike it rich. If they have a job that lets them go home after seven or eight hours of work and then gives them the standard four to eight weeks of paid vacation every year, they’re relatively happy.”

In other words, multimillionaire Moore’s message to his fellow citizens is to give up on the American dream and settle for a perpetually dependent life in a European-style welfare state. No wonder Moore’s work is so beloved overseas. These are not the statements and suggestions of a man serious about winning elections – at least not in America. These are the ugly snarls of an American who hates his country – and relishes telling audiences overseas that his fellow citizens are “possibly the dumbest people on the planet.”

Comments like this, or any remotely positive assessments of the hostage-hacking Iraqi insurgents, ought to be greeted with a hail of hurled rotten fruit from the furious hands of outraged Democrats, instead of being applauded or politely ignored.

Since the election we have seen the first signs of a serious and healthy rift within the Democratic Party, the signs of a fight that is necessary to get them back to anyplace near majority status. One side of the party – epitomized by Mr. Beinart, Senator Lieberman, and consultant James Carville – wants to figure out how to win the red states. The other, larger side – epitomized by Mr. Moore, the editors of the New York Times and novelist Jane Smiley – wants to tell the red states to go to hell, dismissing them as “Jesusland.”

If the Democratic Party’s elites in Manhattan, Beverly Hills, and Nantucket like rhetoric and policies appealing to only the bluest of the blue Americans, there’s not much that those of us outside the party can do about it. It’s up to the red and purple Democrats to grab the wheel from those sticking to the emotionally satisfying but electorally suicidal strategy.

As Mr. Moore begins to campaign for a Best Picture nomination, now would be the time for others on the left who take the war on terror and the American Dream seriously to shatter the Democratic Party’s lockstep behind “Fahrenheit 9/11.” Will any Democrat – besides the usual suspects like Mr. Lieberman – have the guts to publicly echo Senator McCain, a Republican, and call Mr. Moore a “disingenuous filmmaker”?

Mr. Geraghty is a contributor to National Review Online.