At this point, it is hard not to conclude that the biggest supporter of the President's speech last night on health care may well have been Rob Miller. After South Carolina Congressman Joe Wilson's boorish, to say nothing of false, outburst towards the President last night, Miller has been the beneficiary of a massive outpouring of support in his bid for a rematch with Wilson (Miller, while underfunded, held the normally safe Wilson to a single-digit win in 2008).
We will know more about the impact of Wilson's tantrum very soon, as the folks at PPP are launching a poll in South Carolina tonight in order to gauge reaction.
For now, however, this race has gotten the attention of election analyst Charlie Cook. Cook's team downgraded Wilson's chances for re-election today. After initially declaring the incumbent safe from harm, they moved him today to the category of "likely" to attain re-election. In the commentary, Cook doubts whether Wilson's moment of idiocy yesterday will cost him in fourteen months, but he notes that Miller will now have the resources to wage a real fight.
Let's make sure that he has those resources. The response today, from Kossacks and from folks across America tiring of the right-wing assaults embodied by Wilson's embarrassment yesterday, has been incredible. That does not mean, however, that we should let up now.