State of denial

Now that the Democrats have suffered what is by any measure a shattering midterm defeat in the polls, the interesting question is: what will they do about it?   A rational person, faced with this situation, would do some serious soul-searching, try to figure out what they did wrong, and make such changes as seemed likely to correct their errors.

Are the Democrats doing this? Not that I can see. As near as I can tell they are sure that everything they did in this past Congressional session was just fine, and the problem was either (a) the economy, or (b) the President's failure to"sell" their successes, or (c) the conservative press's distortions. The most obvious option (d) - that their liberal policies were unpopular with a majority of the nation - doesn't seem to have occurred to them. Surely, they think, it must have been someone else's fault, not their own. 

Well, they have two years to figure things out. If they continue in this state of denial for the next two years, I'm sure the 2012 elections will reinforce the message.  Politicians who forget to listen to their constituents tend to get weeded out.

The re-election of Nancy Pelosi as the Democratic minority speaker doesn't bode well for them in the long run - it suggests that the party is in the hands of a powerful few who simply didn't get the message. And of course the Congressional delegation is now more liberal than ever, having lost most of the few moderates it had. So I suppose they will keep proposing ultra-liberal legislation, most if which can no longer pass because of Republican gains in the House and Senate, so not much will get done in the next two years.  But of course the Democrats are still the party "in power", since they still control the presidency and the Senate, so in 2012 they will still get blamed for everything that is wrong,or that hasn't happened.

I am remained of the saying "there are none so blind as those who WILL NOT see."