I hate it when the inside the beltway pundits get the big picture right but they did this time around. The night was so shitty that the Crack Van kept careening off the road, ejecting people and not letting anyone else in. I was one of the few who didn’t get bumped but I was the first one in and drove until Athenae took the wheel. Sorry to all the regulars who weren’t able to cram inside. Misery does indeed love company and that was us last night.
A few scattered and marginally coherent observations about a grim night:
10% unemployment and stagflation made it impossible for the Dems to do better. Also the lack of a cohesive message from a party that had a very strong NATIONAL MESSAGE in 2006 and 2008 killed Democratic chances to minimize losses. WTF happened to the awesome Obama team from 2008? They clearly lost their mojo and need to retool instead of being tools…
I was *really* sorry that Russ Feingold and Joe Sestak lost their Senate races. Feingold has been an oustanding Progressive Senator for 3 terms but got dragged down by the wave. Sestak challenged and beat Arlen Spector and then ran an excellent campaign but lost a squeaker. In any other political environment, Sestak would have won. I’m sure we haven’t heard the last of Mr. Sestak. I certainly hope not.
What really hurts is the thought of Speaker Boner instead of Pelosi. I’m one of Nancysmash’s biggest fans and she was one of the few elected Dems who understood that, although the Bushies shat in the national hat, the Dems owned the fucked up economy. It’s unfair but that’s life.
I’m glad Harry Reid survived BUT happier than Sharron Angle lost. The return of Jerry Brown to the California governorship was much better news, which along with the world champion San Francisco Giants gives me something good to hold on to.
I’m also glad that the Dems retook the Louisiana Second but I’m not crazy about my new Congresstool Cedric Richmond who is a bit of a malaka. Bitter Vitter’s landslide victory was predictable in ight of the horrendous campaign waged against him by nice guy Conservadem Charlie Melancon who lived up (down?) to Leo Durocher’s axiom: nice guys finish last.
We should start a pool at First Draft as to how long it will take for the establishment Goopers to betray and neutralize the extremists they elected. Senator Rand Paul is a scary thought BUT he’s no worse than Jim Bunning other than not having an effective strike out pitch…
I think we’re in a period of volatility in House elections. This was the biggest gain for one party since 1948 when the Dems retook the House from the GOP who had taken it in 1946. They promptly lost their majority to the GOP and didn’t regain it until 1954. The Democrats had 40 years in the majority in the House followed by the Republicans for 12 years. Those days appear to be over. I think the House will swing back and forth more like the Senate in the immediate future. That’s some solace on this ashen Wednesday. All of us need to startCrawling From The Wreckage:
