Before I start my ideas about "where go from here" and my "soul searching" posts I do want to note a good post by the young Ezra Klien at Pandagon.
Life goes on. Today my girlfriend and I will go see The Incredibles, and it'll be funny even though Kerry lost. We'll have a dinner party and the company will be great even though Bush won. We'll go to lunch at our favorite Italian place, and it'll be delicious even if the country is speeding down the wrong road. And, like all of you, we'll be talking about what the party needs, what's gone wrong, and what needs to be fixed. And as that conversation replicates itself over a thousand car rides, a million dinner tables, the right ideas wil lemerge, and filter upward. And when Bush, happily using his domestic "mandate", overreaches, we'll be right there.
That is one of the healthiest reactions we can have right now: Love the little things, talk it out, and don't cede an inch to them.
While some quickly called for heads to roll and others are taking a well deserved break, I am impressed with the resiliency I am seeing in the grassroots and even amongst political professionals here in Washington. For instance, last night I was out with some campaign workers drinking away our sorrows. It was cliche, but what wasn't cliche was the discussion. It was impressively focused on the solutions not blame. Instead of the backstabbing game that often follows a losing election, the people I have spoken to are focusing on what to do right going forward.
I hope it stays this way, instead of bringing out the figurative guillotine for a lot of people who have done good work for the Democratic Party (Read: Mcauliffe, Pelosi, and campaign staffers you have never heard of), I hope we are smart about the grieving process. I hope we don't focus on the last election and "What Went Wrong" but instead ask ourselves the Aaron Sorkin/Sports Night inspired question of "Where Are We Going?"
So eat, drink and be with friends this weekend - there is work to do come Monday.
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