I can't say it any better than Craig has: "Since my political awakening in the 1960s I have not been more profoundly discouraged and depressed by an election than I am now." That is exactly how I feel right now. (Craig has also put together put together a list of what this means as well as some links to what others think.) I wish I could say there was some hope but I'm afraid, at this point, I see none. My views have no representation in Washington. Only those with money have representation.

As Tom Tomorrow put it: "Oh. My. Freaking. God."

Debacle
Without vision, the party -- well, a Senate majority -- perishes.

It is the first sign of trouble in a play about nothing but trouble. Asked by her father in the play's first scene what she can say to demonstrate her love for him, Cordelia says, "Nothing." To which Lear responds, "Nothing will come of nothing."

Which is a pretty fair summation of the Democrats' 2002 campaign. They had no message. They were an opposition party that drew no lines of opposition. They had nothing to say. And on Tuesday, their base responded by staying home in droves.
[more]

Nosedive:
The Democrats the Day After

Final verdict? We agree entirely with this assessment by Mark Donham, an Illinois environmentalist who sent it along to us the morning after.

"If the democrats do not see this as a serious repudiation of their strategy of trying to 'out republican' the Republicans, then I think we will continue to see the Democrats become more and more irrelevant. Only if the Democrats embrace a new vision based upon real change, change that will mean taking on the status quo in real ways, not just pandering to the status quo, will they return to power.

"An interesting article ran in yesterday's USA Today regarding the lack of voting by people in the age group of 18-24. In non-presidential elections, the percentage of this age group that are voting is only about 25%. That is because no one is providing them with a vision that makes sense, and the smaller parties that might be providing that vision, like the Green Party, don't have the resources to reach them in adequate numbers.

"Therein lies the untapped political resource to revitalize the Democratic Party, but they will not be fooled or interested by milktoast ideas. It's time for Daschle and Gephardt to step down, admit that their strategy failed, and let some new, progressive leadership re-excite the party. If the party leadership looks at this and concludes that the they weren't conservative enough and tries to push their positions even more to the right, then I see the Democrats disintegrating into near irrelevancy."

So, can the Democrats reinvent themselves out of the cement overcoat of its DLC years? We doubt it, and furthermore we reckon that for the people who control the Democratic Party, it's far more important to beat off radical ideas and drive the McKinneys out of the Party than to win elections or to lose elections on matters of principle like civil rights and economic justice.

One last thought: the Democrats don't have Nader to blame for this one. Ralph even went out and campaigned for some of them.
[more]

Another couple of articles on the implications for our future (thanks to Craig.)

White House Maps Ambitious Plans

Suddenly, items that had been bottled up in the Democratic Senate have new life. President Bush has new hopes for action on his conservative slate of judges, his energy plan calling for drilling in Alaska's wildlife refuge, and the policies he favors on topics such as homeland security, terrorism insurance and prescription drug coverage. With Democrats losing their ability to set the Senate schedule and launch probes of the administration, chances improve for Bush's hopes to extend last year's tax cuts, curtail jury awards, cut business regulations and overhaul Medicare.
[more]

Can you say "We're fucked?"

Massive Military Cargo Ships Leave U.S. Ports - MSC

Three enormous U.S.-military owned cargo ships capable of carrying tanks have left U.S. shores in recent days, a U.S. navy official said on Monday, amid mounting evidence Washington is building up firepower to attack Iraq.
[more]

The scuttlebut, according to my military sources, is a January invasion of Iraq.

For a foreign perspective, as Marc puts it: "This alarming and depressing result makes the global shitstorm much closer, and much, much harder to avoid."

I have Mozart's Requiem on repeat.