The Republicans are taking to the airwaves* trying to persuade the public that yesterday's victory was a victory for conservative Democrats, and they are cherry picking a few isolated datapoints (like Heath Shuler) to make their case.
They're wrong. For the innumerate Republicans, here's THE MATH (hat tip to Tom Schaller)
Of the democrats who ran in the 58 most competitive races, about half of whom have won:
*Just NINE are self-describe pro-life
*NONE support privatizing social security
*ALL support embryonic s.t.r.
*ALL support raising the fed min wage
In short: "A pack of Zell Millers this is not."
We need to make this clear to the public NOW. The post election "narrative" is still in molten liquid form, but it will solidify within 24-48 hours. Hungover or not, we can't rest on this. We need to push back and tell the public the truth IMMEDIATELY.
*Here's the Repub spin:
"Three dozen blue dogs have voted against her on various issues," Snow said, using a nickname for conservative Democrats. "And it's the conservative Democrats who made real gains."
The gains by conservative and moderate Democrats, which some analysts say will force the party to shift more toward center, is encouraging to Bush. The president believes they will support him in his fight for tax cuts, which Snow said the president has vowed not to give up.