OK you nice liberal, progressive Democrat sitting at your computer. You're pondering our losses and plumbing the depths of the universe to figure out what happened. And you're acting like every other nice progressive Democrat - namely, severely overthinking the problem.
Is there anything wrong with the Democrats' message? Not really - nothing that some tweaking couldn't fix.
Is there anything unappealing with the Democrats' goals? Again, not really - nothing that can't be resolved.
Is there anything wrong with Democratic candidates? Not on the whole.
So what gives?
Occam's Razor, folks - the simplest answer is usually the right one, and it's staring you right in the face: Too many people in this country simply don't believe us. Period.
What, other than widespread, far-reaching disillusionment with government as a positive force, could cause so many to say "values" are driving their vote? The Dems will create jobs, improve schools and overhaul health care? Yeah, right. Folks don't see the potential for government to improve their daily lives because for too long, it hasn't -- but they do know all about red tape, government inertia, and the haves having more no matter who's in office. To fill the void, the Republicans have masterfully de-linked accountability for government policies from the officials who are promulgating them and have instead raised "the politics of no" to an art form: no gays, no gun control, no choice, etc. If Jane Q. Public can't count on the government to address her needs, at least the government is addressing her values!
In short, severely diminished expectations have led to cultural issues receiving disproportionate attention, and that's what, unfortunately, motivated too many voters.
So, what's our plan? It doesn't necessarily matter if the Dems move left, right or center - what matters is that voters believe that Dem candidates will be their partner and actually GET THE JOB DONE. I couldn't understand how so many undecideds were quoted as saying that they didn't know where Kerry stood on the issues. After all, his positions were on his website and provided in many other places. On reflection, a couple of well-placed, concrete examples may have been what they were seeking: "Yes, you have too many forms to fill out and can't talk to a live person at the Social Security Adminstration [supposing that's a true scenario - this is just an example]. I will reduce those forms by 15%!"
And that's what we can help our candidates do, at every level: identify solvable problems that our candidates can address not with promises, but with implementation. (Maybe that's why so many AG's are elected to other offices, like Salazar and Giuliani; voters have seen results.) What's your favorite idiotic rule that needs to be fixed? Let your candidate/elected official run with it! And if it isn't fixed? Then the GOP quite clearly become the obstructionists. What business model really works? Let your candidate trumpet successes. If the GOP backhands it, again, they're obstructionists. The key is to be concrete (yes, it was a mistake for Kerry not to talk about BCCI!). From there the Democrats can build policies and programs in myriad areas.
When we've restored trust in government, we will be unstoppable.