As we somberly walk with the funeral procession following the midterm election, the air is filled with cries, lamentations, rending of garments, and portents of doom from Democrats and liberals, much as we heard from Republicans and conservatives after the Republican Party was buried following the 2008 results.
Under the mountain of navel gazing, finger-pointing, self-serving spin, and bitter invective found in the left-o-sphere, we can still find a few gems of sparkling analysis, insight and useful advice. For your consideration – two examples of Progressive postmortems that caught my attention. But to mine a rich vein of solid gold analysis, we must first separate and dispose of the slag. There are two very different Progressive perspectives of the election, electorate, and, most importantly, the way forward. Consider which of the two is informed by common sense, logic and data and which is informed by rhetoric, sophistry and rage. I submit they are representative of two significant and incompatible constituencies within the Democratic Party. The schism has been there all along, but was papered over in 2006 and 2008 by the unifying principle of Bush Hate. Regardless of how skilled Axelrod, Gibbs, and Plouffe may be skilled at “triangulation”, the Obama administration cannot simultaneously turn left and turn toward the center. I hope Democrats choose wisely, as I really don’t want to see us return to one party Republican rule in 2013. they shouldn’t rely on Palin and Tea Party to hand the 2012 election to the Democrats. They just may disappoint them. Again.