This is not going to be another "This Is Why We Lost" diary. I have my own thoughts about that, but I'm not going to give them much air time.
I'd rather start thinking about the work we have ahead of us. First, let's take stock of where we are:
- There is still a Democrat in the White House.
- There are still at least 51 Not-Republicans in the Senate, hopefully 53 if WA and CO ever get done counting.
- Meg Whitman is down $140,000,000 with nothing to show for it.
- We will never hear about Sharron Angle again, until she's arrested for something.
Here are some other things to ponder.
The U.S. Senate:
It is to our shame that the teabaggers preserved our majority in the Senate for us. They turned DE from a sure loss to a sure win. If Bennet hangs on in CO, we can thank them for that, too. However, we can take a good deal of comfort in the fact that they will continue to be a problem for the Republicans. Most immediately, Rand Paul is going to be a horror show in the Senate. McConnell will not be able to get a training collar on him, and he will embarrass their caucus at every juncture.
They will be of even greater benefit in 2012. They will primary any Republican Senator or candidate left of Hitler. They will either win these primaries or force the establishment candidates so far to the right they won't be able to pick up any support from moderates in the general - as long as our folks are taking notes so they won't get away with moving to the center. As a result, we should hold on to the Senate.
The Presidency
Sarah Palin just got upgraded to Palin 2.0. She is now firmly in control of the Republican Party in the public's eyes (the Kochs and other assorted hellspawn will still be in control behind the scenes, but we won't go there just yet). This will help with the congressional races, and she might feel just grizzly enough to take a run at Iowa and New Hampshire. If she doesn't get absolutely buried there, she will either take it all or define the race for the Rs. In the end, we will probably still end up with either Romney or Thune, but her presence is going to make the entire party look like the farce they are, and will leave them bitterly divided when the smoke clears away from the convention. This can only help Obama in his reelection bid. If she takes the nomination, we get to pay back the Republicans for what they did to Walter Mondale.
The U.S. House of Representatives
Boehner's caucus is going to be a disaster from the first gavel. I can pretty much guarantee that the first thing they'll try to do is hand up a bill to repeal HCR. He's made it very clear he intends no compromises with the Democrats - you know, the ones that control the Senate and the White House, and he is clearly more intent on punishing them for their sins than he is on mending the economy. If it took less than 9 months for the public to sour on our run at HCR, think of how happy they'll be to see it at the forefront of the legislative agenda again. Given that these people are completely out of touch with the voters, not to mention reality, and given their already low popularity, we should have a good shot at recapturing the House next cycle, too.
The beauty of it is that we don't have to do very much except watch the Republicans destroy themselves. Do you think we can manage that?