(FORTUNE Small Business) – As we head into the latter half of this pre-election year, you'd expect the air to be filled with sweeping Democratic plans for reinvigorating the still-stalled economy. Instead, the primary candidates seem as if they'd rather go car shopping with Ralph Nader than talk economic policy.

Indeed, other than railing against the Bush tax cuts, the Democrats have been notably quiet when it comes to the economic vision thing. Why? Well, they may have strategic reasons: The earlier they reveal details about how they'd handle the economy, the more time their opponents have to pick their plans apart. But close observers of these quadrennial rites say it's more likely that this group of Democrats is simply lacking in good ideas. "In watching the Democratic contenders, I am astounded by the lack of big thinking on the economy," says Allan Lichtman, a presidential historian at American University. "It's what voters care about."

If the candidates won't tell you how they'll handle the economy, how can you decide whom to root for? That's where FSB comes in. We examined the six major Democratic candidates--Howard Dean, John Edwards, Richard Gephardt, Bob Graham, John Kerry, and Joe Lieberman--digging into their backgrounds, voting records, and personal styles to get some idea of how they might tackle the economy should they get elected. (Sorry, Dennis Kucinich fans. Political analysts say that the accelerated primary schedule and the grim reality of fundraising have already limited the field to the top six contenders.) Generally, you won't find any sweeping proposals, à la Clinton's middle-class tax cut. (What ever happened to that, anyway?) Instead we found a gaggle of programs and plans that the candidates think can inject some oomph into the economy.

We started by looking at the candidates with the grandest economic platforms and found an exception to our rule: While most Democrats are tightlipped about their plans, Missouri Representative Richard Gephardt won't shut up about his. This April, Gephardt--amid much ballyhoo--unveiled a plan to reinvigorate the economy by revamping the health-care system. Gephardt's proposal would repeal the Bush tax cuts and use the money to increase the tax credit employers now receive on their share of health insurance premiums from 30% to 60%. The money that businesses save, his campaign says, would be reinvested in the economy, giving the GDP a 1% boost. Sounds good, but critics argue that the plan merely shifts the burden of paying medical costs--without doing anything to slow their rapid growth. "Medical costs are likely to just keep escalating," says Mark Pauly, a health-care expert at the Wharton School. "This creates big worries from a budget standpoint."

Former Vermont governor Howard Dean, who was once a physician, responded with his own health plan, which would extend Medicaid to a large slice of the uninsured population. (Again, his plan offers no prescription for the high cost of health care.) Dean has some novel economic ideas, including creating an institution to manage small-business loans much as Sallie Mae Corp. manages federal college loans. He also proposes reviving a federal work corps that would hire people to build broadband networks in rural areas, lay transmission lines for wind-generated electricity, and refurbish dilapidated schools. The last major candidate to suggest such a program was Henry Wallace in 1948. Since then, so-called workfare has fallen out of favor, damaged by the perception that the government overpays for shoddy work.

Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman isn't likely to go for such F.D.R.-era solutions. He's a New Democrat in the Clinton mold and has a tradition of voting for conservative trade proposals--like NAFTA and granting the President fast-track authority--that more liberal Democrats have opposed. What's more, Lieberman hasn't shied away from tax cuts, voting in 1997 to lower the capital gains tax. To date he's kept mum on the economy--the most he's revealed is his plan for energy independence--but it's safe to assume that he'll continue to pursue business-friendly policies that work to open global markets.

As the ranking member of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, Massachusetts Senator John Kerry might be expected to propose a plan that emphasizes the role of small business. In March he introduced a small business stimulus act that, if passed, would speed up depreciation schedules on high-tech equipment and provide tax breaks to sole proprietorships. Even his health-care plan has a sop to small businesses, in the form of tax credits to make coverage more affordable. (True, the National Federation of Independent Business, a conservative small business lobbying group, doesn't care for Kerry. But if its support matters to you, give up on the Democrats. That partisan body is sure to support a GOP candidate.)

Now we come to two candidates who have given virtually no clue to their economic ideas. John Edwards's silence stands out. Edwards is running a strategic campaign, not a substantive one. That means that he continually promotes himself as an electable Southerner, without divulging much of a platform. Then again, perhaps Edwards is keeping his lip buttoned because he just doesn't have much experience. He won his first election--to the U.S. Senate--only five years ago.

Last, and arguably least, is Florida Senator Bob Graham, whose campaign is viewed as a long shot. Think of him as the miniaturist candidate. He is notorious for keeping diaries, vigorously annotated with picayune details such as what he ate for breakfast. Not surprisingly, his plan for fixing the economy is an agglomeration of small ideas: a payroll tax holiday on the first $10,000 of income; a temporary Medicaid reimbursement of up to $40 billion to the states; some tax-code tinkering. But what does it all add up to? Unlike some rival candidates, Graham has at least diligently tallied the cost of his plan: $260 billion.

In coming months we'll hear more about these candidates' views. But for now the Democrats don't offer a great economic visionary. Hey, Jeff Bezos, what do you say? Now that Amazon's on solid footing, think it's time to consider a run?