Two very different messages last night [View All]

1) Some people who voted for Obama are disappointed. They still like Obama but they are not enthused. Independents are unimpressed.

2) The Palinista forces that have taken full control of the national Republican Party cannot win elections outside militia-held territory.

Democratic and Republican spinners will wrangle over which message is real but they are both real.

They are trends in opposition and eventually something's gotta give. We need to get people feeling good about Democrats because feeling bad about Republicans is not dependable.

In 1976 Ronald Reagan challenged Gerry Ford from the nut-right. Everyone had a good laugh... he was like Ron Paul and Sarah Palin rolled into one. Jimmy Carter won the general election by post-Watergate default, surviving a late run by Ford. Then everyone turned on Carter, the Democrats became national figures of fun and the colorful crazy man who had been taken little more seriously than Sarah Palin won easily in 1980.

We just won two election cycles (2006-2008) because the opposition represented the worst President in American history. Now the low-hanging fruit is all picked.

I would suggest that banking on the absurdity of the Republicans to keep Democrats viable is a bad idea. That dynamic works until it doesn't. The Republicans will get less absurd or their absurdity will become mainstream.

Elucidate some principles and stick to them through thick and thin and pass bills that benefit millions of people immediately, not in 2013. Jobs, jobs, jobs.