No Great Loss Without Some Small Gain

I love that old saying because it is very true. It especially is true when applied to politics. In the ashes of defeat are sown the seeds of victory. When you lose as a party or ideology it is so tough to get back on your feet and continue the battle. For me personally, the lag between the election of a Democrat president and when they take office is the worst. November 4 to January 20 seems like an eternity right now. I want Obama to be inaugurated so we can start counting down the days.

But back to the saying, Karl Rove has a piece in today's Wall Street Journal that all Republicans should read and learn well. He looks forward to 2010 and even handedly views the prospects of the party. He makes a clear case that the GOP can recover and reassert itself but only if it takes the job seriously and makes good decisions going forward.

"In a sign Mr. Obama's victory may have been more personal than partisan or philosophical, Democrats picked up just 10 state senate seats (out of 1,971) and 94 state house seats (out of 5,411). By comparison, when Ronald Reagan beat Jimmy Carter in 1980, Republicans picked up 112 state senate seats (out of 1,981) and 190 state house seats (out of 5,501).
In the states this year, five chambers shifted from Republican to Democrats, while four shifted from either tied or Democratic control to Republican control. In the South, Mr. Obama had "reverse coattails." Republicans gained legislative seats across the region. In Tennessee both the house and senate now have GOP majorities for the first time since the Civil War."

Somehow the fact that the GOP held its own at the state level and for instance had bright spots such as Tennessee seems to have been missed by the old media. Rove then has more good news:


"The 2010 Census could allocate as many as four additional congressional districts to Texas, two each to Arizona and Florida, and one district to each of a number of (mostly) red-leaning states, while subtracting seats from (mostly) blue-leaning states like Michigan, New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania and, for the first time, California. Redistricting and reapportionment could help tilt the playing field back to the GOP in Congress and the race for the White House by moving seven House seats (and electoral votes) from mostly blue to mostly red states."

So Republicans keep your collective chins up. Things WILL get better.

Not All Left-Wingers Are Nuts

There is a simply outstanding article today in Salon by Camille Paglia. It is about two weeks late but still makes for very interesting reading.

It seems rather obvious to me that Paglia intentionally waited till now so that there would be no chance of any problem for Barack Obama resulting from her piece.

Paglia is a leftist of unquestioned credentials and policy positions but she is very unusual in that she also sees events and people as they are not through some rose colored fog of what she wants them to be.

The most remarkable statements involve William Ayers and his wife Bernardine Dohrn, and Barack Obama's birth certificate.

Paglia also continues to defend Sarah Palin and insists that Palin is intelligent and highly capable.

You really need to click the link above and read the whole thing.