This has probably been said better by Meteor Blades and other, but I want to throw in a few extra points.
My wife has been a basket case all day, and I've been trying not to cry in front of other people too much. This sucks, no doubt. But we can't stay depressed for long.
It feels like a selfish, arrogant, redneck country to us right now, but nearly half of us don't want it to be that way, and only our hard work will restore the country of our own dreams. We have to start working NOW to:
--pass legislation requiring paper receipts for ALL voting transactions, just like ATMs or lottery terminals
--block the appointment of ultra-conservative judges to our courts; if we don't, abortion will be illegal in three years, tops
--develop the farm system necessary to get quality candidates in place for all offices, from dog catcher up to president.
As we move ahead, think about these items:
^ Tonight, ABC News Now on cable dug into the archives and ran an old copy of World News Tonight from the day after Reagan beat Carter in 1980. There was Richard Viguerie, talking about how conservatives had an eight-to-ten year lead on the left with "these new technologies". He meant direct mail. We know how to use the internet, so the technology gap is closed.
^ We have to equal the right in people finding-and-deploying skills. One news item I saw today said the Republicans matched the Democrats for turnout. That's phenomenal. And that's why they won; the old saw about Republicans praying for rain on election day is true, because it remains true that Democrats are the people easiest to deter from voting.
^ We have to find ways to talk to people in ALL parts of the country. Ron Wyden won an easily reelection to the Senate here in Oregon, and he says it's because he's not the Senator from Portland, he represents the whole state. And he ticked off the names of tiny cities like Fossil and John Day, places where it's easy for people to get to know him and appreciate his work. We can't win if we can't attract any votes outside the coasts and the big cities.
^ We have to stop being pussies and own who WE are. Ever since Bush Senior started off with that "L word" crap, we've gotten more and more afraid to call ourselves liberal. What IS this progressive stuff, anyway? No wonder so many people don't know where we stand, we never just say "Damn straight, I'm a liberal! I believe in the power of people working and sharing, to make life better for all of us!" The more we let other people define us, the more the definitions stick.
^ Finally--we have to find candidates who can consistently show heart. I hate to say this, because it feels like I'm saying we need to de-value brains. But Jesus, Zogby did his famous Tin Man-vs-Scarecrow question again this year, asking poll respondents if they wanted the guy without brains or the guy without heart. Last time he checked, Tin Man (no brains) was up ten points.
This is the part I struggle with the most. Because we don't want clusters of boneheads running our country. But in the political major leagues, it's all about TV and marketing. Face it, Abraham Lincoln could not get elected today, because of television. And I hate that, in part because I work in television and marketing. But we have to be able to connect with voters on an emotional level before they'll trust us on an intellectual level. I don't mean we need to recruit our posses of cowboys and movie actors. But if we don't learn to play the game of personal trust and emotion--while using our brains--the nation will keep electing the other side's cowboys and movie actors.
I would argue that the vast majority of people in this country share very similar dreams. We disagree entirely on the methods to achieve these dreams. If we communicate our vision carefully, listen to others carefully, and not curl up in a fetal ball (though we want to), we'll have a vibrant movement. 56 million Americans say we're not far from vibrancy.
Thanks for listening. I share your tears and your dreams. Now let's keep up the pursuit.