Silver Linings:

At the end of the day Republicans won close Senate races and the presidency principally by appealing to fear, hate, and prejudice. Well-meaning, non-homophobic Republicans may rationalize this by saying that it's a small price to pay for a strong leader who will keep them safe. (Ahem.) But they know better. They know better when they avoid the subject with their gay friends, and they know better when they hear the bile coming from the religious leaders and everyday bigots they depend on for votes but wouldn't be caught dead associating with. Deep down they know a tax cut isn't worth a soul, and security without principles is meaningless. They fought, and won, dirty. And they know it.

Democrats may not be entirely clean on the subject – if one is not homophobic it doesn't make much sense to be against gay marriage – but the bottom line is we didn't try and get a president elected by pandering to hate. I'd rather lose every god damn election in my lifetime than win their way. But the beauty is, we can win without doing that. We did in 2000, and we came within a whisker of doing so this year. Remember that when the DLC tells us that we need to sell out gays (after telling us to sell out unions, and blacks, and the poor, and all the other, well, Democrats out there) to win the support of Bible-thumping bigots in Alabama that are never going to vote for us anyway. That's wrong, on every level.

As my Media Law and Ethics professor at Northwestern said to us in her final lecture, at the end of the day all you have is your integrity. They don't have any; we do. And I'd trade the White House for being able to look in the mirror any day.

More good news:

Although final results are not yet in, Democrats actually gained more states in the partisan index than Republicans.
States Moving From pro-RNC Partisan Index to pro-DNC Partisan Index
2004 2000
IA DNC +2.1 RNC +0.2
NV DNC +0.4 RNC +4.1
NH DNC +4.2 RNC +1.8
NM DNC +1.3 RNC +0.5
OH DNC +0.5 RNC +4.0
OR DNC +8.0 RNC +0.3
WI DNC +3.4 RNC +0.3
For the sake of comparison, zero states switched from pro-DNC partisan index to pro-RNC partisan index. Surprising as it may seem, because of our efforts in this cycle, Democrats are now in their best position in terms of the partisan index since the 1950's when the New Deal coalition was still fully operational (I envy the Democrat who is the 2008 nominee). We now hold the partisan advantage in 24 states plus DC (worth 289 electoral votes, up from 231), while Republicans hold the advantage in 26 states (worth 249 electoral votes, down from 307). Kerry-Edwards almost won the Electoral College despite losing the popular vote by 2.5%! That is literally, rather than vernacularly, awesome.

It is important to remember that the new voter registrations we acquired through the third party and coordinated campaigns that helped make this new partisan advantage in the Electoral College possible are not going to expire anytime soon. This campaign will have long-term, positive implications on our electoral chances. It was, simultaneously, the epitome of the Jesse Jackson 1980's strategy (energize and register the base as much as possible) and the Bill Clinton strategy of the 1990's (appeal to moderates and independents as much as possible). As I wrote yesterday, we excelled in both areas.

Seriously, I think I'm done posting on the failures. 2006 elections are coming soon. Get fired up.