Bush will try to position our loss as his mandate.  But
remember one thing: less than 20% of the American electorate
voted for GOP candidates.  Nearly as many voted against, and
far more stayed home.  There is no mandate.

I think this is an important point from the previous posting.  The Republicans may have won, but just barely.  The results of this shows us that the US is a lot more reasonable place than the politicians play to.  Let the Republicans keep the middle.  Lets take the Democrats to just left of center.  I imagine we'll meet a lot of folks there.

Dear MoveOn member,

Yesterday's loss was devastating.  We truly face dark times.

The light in this darkness is you, and the tens of millions of
people like you, across the nation and around the world, who
will stand for a vision of hope, and not be blinded by the
politics of fear.

With Paul Wellstone's recent death, we've all been thinking
a lot about heroes.  What defines a hero?  And when do you know
that someone is a hero?

To stand up when it's darkest and continue the fight.  That's
heroism.  To fight against the odds, for something that matters.
That's heroism.  To step forward, when the rest of humanity
seems to be in retreat.  That's heroism.

You are heroes.

And when you step forward, you will not be alone.

We will be there, with you.

Three weeks ago, we honored four heroes, who stepped forward when
much of Congress was in retreat -- Paul Wellstone, Rush
Holt, Jay Inslee, and Rick Larsen.  You came forward for these
heroes with a tremendous outpouring of support -- thousands of
volunteers and more than one million dollars in contributions.
Holt, Inslee and Larsen all won their races yesterday.  And
of course, we all know Paul Wellstone would have won.

In the end, we will win.

We will win by rebuilding a new political will founded on
vision that goes beyond the tactics of fund raising and
triangulation.  We will win by projecting a vision of hope
for our country and the world that is too compelling to deny.
We will win by supporting exciting new leaders on a
political landscape filled with dinosaurs.

Bush will try to position our loss as his mandate.  But
remember one thing: less than 20% of the American electorate
voted for GOP candidates.  Nearly as many voted against, and
far more stayed home.  There is no mandate.

With your help, we will fight the coming onslaught.

We will support heroes in the House, like Minority Whip
Nancy Pelosi, who led an overwhelming majority of House
Democrats to oppose the Iraq war resolution.  We will support
heroes in the Senate, like Senator Robert Byrd, whose eloquence
brought us to tears in the Senate debate on Iraq.

It's time to make a fresh start.  We will demand quality
leadership in these difficult times.  The Democratic party must
find its voice, represent its members, and promote the broad
interests of the American public.  We will accept no less.

Thanks for everything you've done.

We stand together, with you,
 
- Wes, Joan, Carrie, Peter, Doug, and Eli
  MoveOn.org PAC
  Wednesday, November 6th, 2002

           PAID FOR BY MOVEON.ORG PAC

"Missouri Rep. Dick Gephardt intends to announce Thursday that he is stepping down as House Democratic leader after eight years, senior aides said, one day after his party suffered historic losses in midterm elections."

Time to clean house.  Now that the the inefficacy of the Democratic leadership has been made clear, its time for some new folks to lead the charge.  I suspect Gephardt intends to withdraw in order to prepare himself for a Presidential run, which, of course, is ludicrous following this defeat, largely orchestrated by himself.  I'm hopeful that Nancy Pelosi (mother of the director of the recent highly entertaining, and strangely endearing HBO documentary, Journeys with George) emerges out of this struggle as an important leader in a new Democractic party - one that might actually take a stand on something, rather than play Republican Lite in the hopes of not offending anyone.