Some ideas, for both major parties but especially the Democrats (who seem lost) about how to make things "different" in 2008:

1) Stop letting Iowa and New Hampshire decide the nominee for party members in the other 48 states. Do whatever it takes - stretch out the primary season, let California and New York hold their primaries much earlier in the process, whatever - to give more party members in more states a say in the nominating process. Why don't more Democrats vote in Tennessee, or Republicans in New York? Because their parties tell them they don't count during the nomination process, that's why;

2) Do what Jerry Brown did when he ran in '92: Refuse to accept any financial contributions from special interests. Period. What Brown did was voluntary - nobody forced him - and he even went so far as to refuse any contributions of more than $100. Brown didn't win the nomination, but he came in second out of a field of about 10 Democrats running that year. With the ability to solicit individual contributions over the Web (which Brown didn't have in '92), there's no excuse for relying on big money interests ever again;

3) Embrace people of faith. Yes - Democrats, too. The Democratic party was at its strongest in places like New York and Chicago and Mississippi when it appealed to people whose lives revolved around their parish or their church or their synagogue. The Irish-Catholic vote was always a solid for the Democrats in New York and Chicago. So was the Southern Baptist vote. Just because people believe what they read in the Bible and hear in church doesn't mean they can't be Democrats. Hostility toward people of faith sure didn't work for the Democrats in 2004. Maybe respect could work in 2008.

4) If a candidate doesn't win two-thirds of the convention delegates by the end of the primaries, hold an open convention. Yes, that's right. Open it up. FDR won four presidential nominations in open conventions. Truman won. So did JFK (Kennedy, not Kerry.) Is it any coincidence that the Democrats began turning into a minority party at about the same time Jimmy Carter bullied his way into a closed convention in 1980? The Republicans should think about doing this, too, in 2008. Open conventions are where coalitions form. And with all this Red State-Blue State hubbub, what each party needs to figure out is how to form a broader coalition for the next national election. This wouldn't negate the primaries, but would make it more urgent for a candidate to fight for every delegate in every state;

5) Disavow fringe activists and 527 groups that don't spend most of their time and resources on voter registration and getting out the vote. If necessary, pass party platforms that would freeze them out of appointed government positions or lobbying access. Don't wait for a new, stupid law to pass that won't work anyway. Show some leadership.