Singin' In The Rain

It's absolutely pouring outside here at the moment, but I don't care because PATRICK MURPHY WON! (here's more information...and according to Kos, it looks like Mikey remained true to form even in defeat). As you can see from the CNN graphic, it was every bit as razor thin of a margin as was expected one way or the other.

Update: I don't know where Kos got his information, but this came via Atrios. Good for Mikey for doing the right thing, though I'm not sure why it took him so long.

Also, congratulations to Admiral Joe Sestak out in PA-07 for his victory over Crazy Curt Weldon. Now Weldon can concentrate on keeping himself and his family out of jail.

I think Lois Herr was leading for a brief time in her race against Joe Pitts before the "Guns N' God" crowd took over and gave him the win. So when Pitts decides to start invading homes in PA-16 to make sure everyone has good "family values" as part of his "fatherhood initiative," or whatever that nonsense was that he was talking about in the Inquirer a few days (which I guess his supporters believe is something government is supposed to do), you'll know who to thank.

Also, it looks like there was the same sort of "cultural" thing going on over in PA-6 with Lois Murphy and Jim Gerlach, with Murphy winning Montgomery County in the Philadelphia suburbs but Gerlach taking Berks and enough of Delaware County to win (and somehow I'm sure the sleazy NRCC robocalls hurt Murphy as well).

In our area regarding PA state government, Democrats Chris King and Bryan Lentz appeared to have defeated Repugs Matt Wright and Tom Gannon, respectively, and it looks like Chris Serpico lost in our area, though it was close (and Paul Lang came up short against Tommy Tomlinson in our vicinity also).

Also, I don't know how many of you heard Diane Sawyer and Robin Roberts this morning on "Good Morning, America," a show I otherwise would normally never watch or hear on the radio, but I had to laugh at the mournful tone of the entire broadcast, with the announcement that Dubya is going to "reach out to Democrats" in the House with some phony baloney press conference, as if the House Dems are some sort of "problem child" that needs therapy.

If President 35 (?) Percent Mandate and "Turd Blossom" had managed to actually govern with the opposition party once in awhile instead of beating it over the head at every opportunity, maybe this entire phony exercise of "reaching out" would not have been necessary (more than that, the Repugs might not have lost the House, so it was stupid all around for those two).

And by the way, this leads me to the following thought on Karl Rove.

Everybody knows that Dubya wouldn't be where he is without this guy. And everyone knows how formidable he has been in shaping Republican party policy. And every other political consultant in the universe has given him his due for his considerable influence.

But here's another media "narrative" on this guy that I'd actually see become part of the discussion, and that is the fact that, through his "take no prisoners" political strategy (demonstrated, horrifically, through the entire history of the Iraq War - this has mainly been Cheney and Rumsfeld's show as far as I'm concerned along with the PNAC crowd, but Rove handled what passed for a political strategy), he has managed to alienate an entire generation of potential Republican voters because of the catastrophic consequences of our invasion (that's the primary reason, though there are others).

And as I looked at the CNN electoral map with more and more spatterings of blue working their way into territory that was solidly red on the awful morning after the November 2004 mess, it occurred to me that maybe this guy isn't so smart after all.

Here's something else I want to point out (and I have to ponder it some more because it was so shocking). I saw Senator Eye-Of-Mordor-Man-On-Dog speak last night after Casey knocked him off, and I have to admit that Rick Santorum gave one of the most gracious concession speeches I've ever heard. I was absolutely floored as Little Ricky paid tribute to Casey and his campaign over and over.

After the shock subsided, I recalled what Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Tom Ferrick, Jr. wrote about Santorum a few days ago, and that was the fact that Santorum's campaign made no sense until you realize that all he's trying to do is appease "the base" who will vote again a couple of years from now (I can't even imagine that at the moment) in an effort to regain their national influence.

So as the former Pennsylvania Senator from Northern Virginia slinks back to his McMansion in Leesburg to contemplate his next move, rest assured that he will make a run for the White House and sell himself as the guy who fell, but rose again in the name of the holy conservative cause (trying, in his twisted way, to mimic Winston Churchill's return to power as World War II started after his years in isolation).

And I'm sure that, when Ricky returns, he will provide ample ammunition to bloggers everywhere.

Finally, here's a tribute to every Dem who fought the good fight, but came up short.