My last on the 2006 election

I agree with Publius’ final assessment of the election. Read it.
I spit my coffee (tea, actually) through the nose when I read this today:

“Sadly, it seems that the Party of Reagan has been hijacked by the neocons, the big government crowd and the pragmatists.”

PRAGMATISTS? Heellllooo?
As Deborah noted when she was calling VA voters, this was not about Iraq, it was about “throwing the bums out”. The word “corruption” that is being banded about is misleading. Corruption was not the top reason for kicking the bums out, courrption is just one of inevitable sub-symptoms of the greater sin of pride, self-grandiosity and the false sense of invincibility of the “we make reality” crowd.
Voters kicked out the incompetents who think that campaigning is the same as governing, that talking is the same as working (they do not know how to work), and that wishful thinking is the same as policy. They voted in the members of the reality-based community in hope that someone will start actually working in this government. They threw out the idealists, not pragmatists. Katrina had a much greater impact than Iraq. And Foley was just a recent reminder of the utter incompetence of the Republican leadership.
But it appears that the Democratic beltway aristocrats have themselves bought into the stupid GOP “face-saving” notion that conservative Democrats won and are planning on purging the party of Dean and abandoning the 50-state strategy. The “conservative” candidates Emanuel showered with millions mainly lost (some of them in the primaries). The netroots-supported candidates that Emanuel did not support (and in some cases actively campaigned against) mostly won or came much closer than deemed possible in some very Red districts. Morons! We have to do everything we can to stop them.
Finally, it’s time to start looking at 2008 and working immediately to mold the public opinion (see the Publius link above) and set the stage for a win then. As John says:

“…..I think the most valuable thing most of could do is to help shape the conventional wisdom. We blog, we write letters to the editor, we talk up our relatives, neighbors, and co-workers. We should try to take down the straight talking St. McCain and the weak-on-defense Democrats narratives. It’s never too soon to start casting doubt on the Republicans we plan to target; broken promises are the most effective critique. And, of course it’s never too soon to start talking up the candidates we support.”