In Victory, a Bitter Defeat

Republicans won the now infamous California representative seat last time by 22 points. This time they eeked it out by four, despite pumping five million dollars into keeping the seat and outspending the Democratic candidate by two to one. This is a mandate of Bushian proportions, miniscule, and it would be easy to read too much into it.

There is a lesson for the Democrats: Dissatisfaction and corruption alone aren't going to cut it. Bilbray managed to make immigration an issue, more of an issue in San Diego than in suburban Denver, to be sure. We Democrats need a clear platform. We need to be able to tell America not only that we can do it better but how. And we need to set an example: Nancy Pelosi should enter a bill of censure against Willam Jefferson and take back the moral high ground. And we need to drive home the following point: Republicans believe gay marriage is the most important issue facing America.

Ridicule is a powerful weapon and one we should employ.