Winners, Losers from Tuesday's Election
OK, the big loser is George W. Bush. His presidency is over and he'll be playing defense, with indictments and resignations picking up steam after yesterday's ouster of Donald Rumsfeld. But there were some Democratic winners and losers as well. Hillary Clinton won big, but she was a loser. Sure, she comes from the East, the new powerhouse of Democratic politics, but she now has two things going against her. The Northeast is now so solidly Democratic that it would elect a yellow dog over a Republican. So it's no place to build a presidential campaign from. Second, Democrats are totally sour on the war. Hillary's stubborn determination to not only cling to her vote on the war, but to insist she would do the same thing again is an incredible mistake that will end up costing her the presidency. I think she will not even run. Here's why:
What the Democrats need to do
Yeah, it's way too early, but looking ahead gives us a way to provide some advice to Democrats as they take the reins in both the US House and US Senate (and get undivided control in Colorado.) My advice to national Democrats is to look at what happened in Colorado in 2004. When Democrats took over the state legislature, they didn't do anything foolish. I was concerned that they would work on a gun ban or try to push through social legislation that Colorado just wasn't ready for, but they didn't. They showed restraint and, incredibly, fixed (at least temporarily) a fiscal trainwreck that was coming by passing Referendums C&D. Really solving problems, rather than creating problems for themselves down the road. Second, they governed like they were representing the most conservative members of their caucus, rather than the districts they represent. Where would the Democrats be if they led like they were representing Denver and Boulder, rather than Bernie Buescher's district in Mesa County? Back in the minority. Nancy Pelosi, especially, needs to take heed of that lesson.
Looking Back to Tuesday
What an exciting night. Well, not really. I went to bed at 11:30. But Wednesday morning was really exciting. I honestly can't remember such an exciting Election Day and I've been working elections since 1972. We won nationally, on a state level and locally.
