Cold consolation

[muckefuck]

I know that there's not much I can do to make this day better for most of you, but that won't stop me from trying. Here are some reasons why it may all not be quite as bad as you think:

1. Order Many pundits predicted a repeat of 2000. Ohio notwithstanding, it hasn't happened. The absence of major glitches suggests that the investments made in improving voting machinery and procedures over the past several years really did pay off. This is good news for those concerned about voting rights, legitimacy, and the American image abroad.
2. Turnout Record numbers! In my own city, 77% of registered voters made it to the polls. Now if we can get some of these people interested in the primaries and midterm elections, it could really make a difference. Amid the gloom, I hear one progressive after another pledging to engage in politics, to proselytise, to support the ACLU and other liberal causes.
3. 2006 Midterm elections traditionally favour the opposition. Hands up, everyone who thinks that Iraq is going to be less of a liability to the Republicans by then. Had the election been decided on this rather than "moral issues" (code for abortion and gay marriage, unless I misread it), the Democracts would have carried the day. With Daschle gone, the GOP have lost their last excuse; from now on, the blame for any bad policies or mistakes can be laid squarely at their feet.
4. Gay marriage I know I keep coming back to this, but when it comes to monumental social change, you have to keep the longer term in mind: Demographics favours it. A majority my age and younger accept gay marriage; as they mature and the elderly opponents die off, the balance will tip. Some civil liberties we will need to gird ourselves to defend, but the progress of this front seems inexorable.
5. Personality Not to kick a man who's down, but Kerry's lack of personal magnetism was probably at least as much of a factor in his defeat as the appeal of his ideas. Clinton showed what a charismatic (Southern) Democrat can do when he runs from the centre. We have almost four years to find and groom another one.

I'm afraid that's all I have for now, but I'll keep mulling. Several people have posted pep talks, but by far the best I've seen so far is scathedobsidian's. (mikiedoggie deserves an honourable mention, but his optimism is confined to last two paragraphs.)