The challenge I see is that progressives went into 2009 with a narrative of "transformative change and a new New Deal" and heading towards November 2010 we feel like we've been handed a new narrative of "populist uprising defeats democrats".
The Tea Party is neither new nor populist. It's the same rich, older, white, guys who make up the Republican base, rebranded because GWB turned the Republican brand into tainted dogfood. But how do we crush that narrative before it becomes reality.
We progressives are raging pissed off because we're trapped. Even in failure, the GOP have Ailes and Beck. Where's our media propagand arm fighting for our cause and providing hyperbolic rhetoric? Even in failure they've got Armey and FreedomWorks. Where's our powerful, well-funded astroturfer?
We've had to do all this crap by hand as bloggers, party activists, and political organizers. What I'm most pissed off about is that the regular media - not FOX, but CNN, and the networks, have given credence to all this Tea Party bs, and allowed it to fester. It's the same thing that killed ACORN. A bunch of lies took hold in the media and before the air could clear, the org was killed. The Dems are likely to suffer the same fate and all we can do is expose the lies.
Lie 1: Tea Party Populism -
Truth: FoX + Republican Base + Tons of cash = Tea Party (nothing new here)
It's just a pity party. They lost in 2008 and can't stand it, so they're willing to take down the country to get back in power.
My first reaction is "over my dead body". My second reaction, where's the damned journalism?