Post-election hangover

Still dragging today, and feeling sad and discouraged.  Maffei's seat is now unsure - votes from Wayne county put his opponent, Anee Marie Buerkle, ahead, so now they're counting absentee ballots and such.  If he ends up losing, I'll be seriously bummed. 

Listening to the Republican spin is completely infuriating - this is a repudiation of Obama, this is a clear call for a course change.  The impact of the unemployment rate (9.6) is conveniently ignored.

The NY Times has a fascinating article today about the systematic plan implemented by the Republicans back in January 2009 to take back Congress - raising money and recruting candidates and targeting Democrats whose districts' demographics had shifted.  So it's not all about the mood of the country.

I did enjoy Obama's press conference yesterday afternoon - he was humble, but determined to do what can be done.  He also noted that both Reagan and Clinton had to give "this same speech" - the point being that they both got re-elected after midterm losses by their party.

I heard other commentators talking about this as well. Even F.D.R. suffered a severe midterm defeat in 1938.  So that's encouraging, especially after hearing poll data this morning saying that Obama would lose to Romney and Huckabee if the election were held today.

And the Republicans have a daunting task ahead of them - not just trying to advance their agenda, but also trying to wrangle the strange bedfellows they've created by embracing the Tea Party and libertarian elements of their base.  It will actually be fun to watch the infighting.