THE MORNING AFTER...

There's always a morning after a main event, like yesterday's election. As we bask in the afterglow of the Democrats actually bringing a gun to a gunfight instead of the usual knife, the result of their willingness to stand their ground and bark back at the ReThug bullies, is a 27 seat majority in the House of Representatives.

DING DONG THE WICKED WITCH IS DEAD! AND IT'S NAMES WERE SANTORUM, CHAFFEE, KERRY HEALEY, MARK FOLEY, DON SHERWOOD, CONRAD BURNS, KATHERINE HARRIS, NANCY JOHNSON...SHOOT THEY'RE TOO NUMEROUS FOR ME TO NAME!

What sent them to their defeat was hitching their wagons to this guy:



I'm not banking on the Senate yet. While Fighting Jim Webb is ahead by 8000 votes, the provisionals haven't been counted yet, but it's looking good for him, since those votes are coming out of Fairfax, Loudon and Prince William Counties.

In other words, NORTHERN VIRGINIA, which is ecstatically BLUE.

As far as Tennessee goes, I thought Harold Ford Jr., had a good chance of pulling it off. But Corker got the nod, and the people of Tennessee have spoken.

They don't want a Bible-Thumping, Ten Commandments quotin' Playa representing them in the U. S. Senate. God don't like it when you try to pimp Him for personal gain. As the Christian Progressive Liberal, if anything cost Harold that Senate seat, it was shooting a campaign ad in a church, and on the same breath, defending partying at the Playboy SuperBowl Party in Jacksonville last year.

That "Fancy Ford" website was the first shot fired over the bow. Harold was put on notice, given his "You're still a Negro" memo which he didn't bother to read, and basically tried to out redneck Bob Corker. Those issues, not some white woman telling Harold to "Call me", cost him the election. Running away from his party and relevant issues is what cost him this Senate race. Ignoring the demographics of Tennessee on a racial, cultural and economic level, cost him this race. I'm not saying that the ad didn't do some damage, but it put Harold on the defensive, where he ran from that point on.

Crashing Bob Corker's press conference and towering over the older man like a bully didn't help him, either. It made him look as thug-life as his brother Jake, who also was shown the door last night.

I'm not going to rub Ford's face in it - he probably is looking for someone to take out his frustration in losing by breaking out a can of whip-ass on them at this moment. But, like my friend Derek said over on the Pesky Fly, I hope Harold uses the next two years to take inventory of himself, learn what life is for those like you and me so he can really emphatize with them and not pay lip-service, and not be so ready to blame his loss on the "Call Me, Harold" ad, or any other dirty trick pulled by the ReThugs. That "Fancy Ford" website that appeared shortly after he announced he was running should have been his clue that the race was going to get dirty. This was not a good year for ReThugs to be running for re-election, anyway,with Dear Leader's approval rating being in the toilet. Charlie Crist managed to win the chance to be Florida's next loony governor because he eschewed Bush campaigning for him.

When suffering major defeats in our lives, instead of assigning blame, it's time to take stock and learn from your defeat; in fact, it could be the best lesson you will ever learn about life, love, who your friends are, and most of all, facing yourself - the good parts and the bad parts. The good parts you keep; the bad parts you try to change for the better.

Ford says he'll be back in 2008 to take on Lamar Alexander. Well, I would have preferred to see if he would have become a true Democrat in the House, with membership in a Majority party for a change, but hey, whatever floats your boat.

Don't count out Harold Ford. He may be the next Phoenix to rise from the ashes, and maybe, he'll finally learn how to be his own man, truly independent of his father and his wanne-be thug brothers.