Okay folks, so we lost a seat in MA. We knew it was coming, and a valiant effort was executed on our behalf to save a candidate that simply lacked the liberal and political chutzpah required to fill Ted Kennedy's shoes. We should look forward to another day when we put a much stronger candidate on the ticket to unseat Brown. It's not hard to do, it's just not going to happen tomorrow (literally speaking, that is).
How HCR and other big issues will play out remains to be seen at this point, and it was already questionable at best even with the fabled 60 seat majority. That, and the whole damn thing just isn't being played out properly anyway, but that's another diary. In fact, it's countless other diaries that many of you have already written.
Folks, welcome to Politics. This stuff is work that is never done. And it's the kind of work that needs done both by us, and the people that we elect. Even if we were to get every single piece of progressive legislation ever passed tomorrow, there would still be work to do. So let's focus on the work of getting some real progressives into congress in November to start writing that progressive legislation, shall we?
Whether it's the Phantom 60 seat majority, HCR reconciliation, or whatever your passion is for the next few days, let us not forget about some key races coming up this fall that we need to win. Now is the time to start crossing the T's and dotting the I's so that we have no potential foul ups in November that cost us even more seats.
In the senate, Dodd, Dorgan, Burris, and Kaufman are all gone after this year and we need to start getting out in front of those races. And that's no matter how 'safe' you think the seat is. After all, wouldn't Massachusetts have been considered a safe seat under normal circumstances? Safe or not, we need to fight tooth and nail to make sure we hold onto these four seats.
On the republican side, we have Bunning, Martinez, Voinovich, Brownback, Bond and Greg giving up seats. KY might be a bit tough, but damned if we can't try (I'm recalling Dean's 50 State Strategy here). We need to get our act together and make the republicans own up to their obstructionist tactics for the remainder of their terms, and then make the entire party pay dearly for it in November. I'm already thinking of a great national campaign slogan; "There's more to politics than the word 'NO'," or "Why let people who don't understand government govern?"
So yesterday's events should serve as a potent reminder: Yes, we can screw this thing up. And badly (Any and every pun available is certainly intended, BTW). If we're paying some attention heading into the primary season, we'll wind up with at least a handful of candidates that have their act together enough to win. Taking our eye of the ball could really spell disaster if we don't pick up our collective faces and get a head start pounding the pavement for this fall.
(Sorry for my wholesale neglect of the upcoming House races. I have just recently taken a look at the Senate races for 2010, and felt like writing this diary rather than speak for any length on races I haven't taken a look at yet...)