Meditation Before Mayhem

Tonight on election eve it appears that the Democrats are going to suffer a terrible drubbing, both in the Congress and out in the states.  It will be a good thing to see some of the more noxious politicians go down to defeat, such as Harry Reid, Charlie Crist, and God help us, even Barney Frank. This will no doubt instill fear in the hearts of most Democratic incumbents. Probably more than a few liberal-leaning Republicans will be wondering if it will be their turn for defeat come the next election.

I expect that Democrats will first go into an anger/denial mode, after which their own truth-tellers will begin to portion out the blame for their losses. Some will blame the electorate, some will have technical explanations, but I think that most will be drawn to conclude that the blame lies mostly with the President. Once this sinks in, I think Obama will find himself in the fight of his life, besieged from the left and right, and, who knows, even sabotaged from within by his own character.

I've seen very little about Obama to make me think he has any capacity for stepping back and becoming more respectful and conciliatory in his dealings with the opposition. I expect that his use of divisive tactics is going to increase and that we're in for a couple of nasty years in politics.  If it gets too nasty, I think even more political leaders will see their stars falling, possibly including the President.