I'm not watching, but the word is that the Bobbleheads this morning are busy spinning away, and that Joe is joining them, constructing the meme that the election was a "victory for moderates" and a "centrist mandate" is the will of the electorate. Let's slap that bullshit down hard, right now.

Let's start with the actual makeup of the Democratic caucus. Boo's got the choice goodies, be sure to read the whole thing for a complete list to save and smack centrist memers with:

I am actually astonished at just how deeply the progressive caucus and the Congressional Black Caucus stand to DOMINATE this new Congress. It's staggering. There are black women all over the place wielding previously unthought of influence over policy and pursestrings.

It's enough to make a Republican apoplectic.

If the media cannot figure out what kind of progressive tsunami is coming out of our House of Representatives, they need to go get new jobs.

Take a look.

And it goes deeper than this list even suggests. After all, politics isn't entirely dictated by gender and race. Republicans better get used to seeing mindbenders like Jerrold Nadler (NY-08) chairing the Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution and Dennis Kucinich (OH-10) chairing the Government Reform Subcommittee on National Security and Emerging Threats.

It's just a fact that the people that have seniority in the House are some of its most liberal members. New York and California absolutely dominate the power positions.

Elsewhere, Jeralyn reminds us of the difference between winners and losers:

I totally don't get James Carville's attack on Howard Dean as Chair of the DNC. Carville wants Dean out and suggests replacing him with "bible-thumping" Harold Ford:

In an attempt to reinvent himself as a Bible-thumping good ’ol boy, Ford consistently voted — and ran hard — against his party’s mainstream, and even harder against its left flank. He sided with the Republicans on such controversial issues as the bankruptcy bill, the Schiavo bill, the torture, bill, and the wiretapping bill. Throughout his campaign, Ford never missed an opportunity to crow over his ability to frustrate and confound fellow Democrats.

As The Plank notes:

Perhaps he's not aware that under Dean in this midterm election the DNC has raised record cash — all hard dollars — including three times as much from major donors, eight times as much online and made a $30 million investment in the '06 cycle, three times as much as the DNC put into the last midterm. Not to mention we made an $8m overhaul of our voter file which was successfully used in 47 states and through the 50 state strategy invested in states like Pennsylvania, Kansas, Indiana and Montana where we had critical victories on Tuesday.

Jane Hamsher:

Since Carville's wife Mary Matalin has been mentioned as possible future head of the RNC I think it's great he's offering suggestions about how the DNC should comport itself. He is no stranger to the inside job, after all.

I guess I should add "and traitors." Corrente has already added our voices about what Carville can do with his little campaign. On a slightly different note, take a look at what Larry has to say about Rummy's ass out the door:

The Gates era at DOD will bring an end to Rummy's reign of terror. Rummy and his coterie of neocons bullied and bashed the military, particularly in the summer of 2002, for its reluctance to accept Rummy's demand to invade Iraq with a light force. Rummy came to the job with preconceived ideas and was unwilling to entertain dissent or alternative views. There is no doubt that the military officers on the Joint Staff are heaving a great sigh of relief these days. Gates, by contrast, will welcome strong briefers and will defer to military recommendations that are fully supported by evidence.

The appointment of Gates also marks the end of Cheney's dominance within the Bush Administration. Cheney has been conspicuously absent since the Republicans were routed at the polls. His efforts to save Rummy were rebuffed. And with the Senate in the hands of the Democrats, Cheney's influence on the Hill is over. Don't be surprised if Dick Cheney develops a heart condition in the next couple of months that will force him to resign as the Vice President. Whether he stays or goes, the era of Cheney's supremacy at the White House is done. The neocons are discredited, as is Cheney, and their pet projects--from warrantless wiretapping to torture to trashing habeus corpus--are dead as well.

Added together, it's clear that at least two things are true. Progressive stand ready to bring back true liberal values and agendas to the House and Senate. Bush may veto a lot of it, but all that will do is set the stage for 08, in which any smart Democratic strategist will construct a message that the Republican party has stood in the way of change and otherwise ignored the "clear message" of the 06 election, that is, getting something done. Alternately, Bush can sign a bunch of bills Pelosi and Reid put on his desk; that's all good too.

The second happy news is that the coalition of the Scary Evil Fascists is falling apart. Cheney has long been rumored to be in charge, and I just read the rumor that Poppy's been working Junior over hard, to get him out of the hands of the Cheney cabal. Either way, there's all the makings of a real meltdown in the Republican leadership class, which means less discipline, less spin, and less "leadership" of the style they've shown for the last six years. When they don't act in lockstep, it's that much easier for Democrats to do things like entice Republican moderates to do the right thing. I think there are still a few thinking members of the Republican party, and if they're going to save their skins in 08, it's going to mean a lot of distancing from the imploding Cheney/Bush administration.

Our jobs are thus very clear. We've got to continually remind Rahm and his minions, as well as the media, that this isn't all about the middle. Gerrymandering means that the 50/50 numbers actually are closer to 60-70% support in the electorate for Democrats- and for the most part it was progressives who won, and centrists who lost. And despite some disappointing ballot initiative results, the amount of anger and energy that brought Democratic victory isn't going to go away. Indeed, I believe this is only the first wave of an increasingly progressive, motivated, activist electorate. It's nice to know that all it takes are a couple of gay/meth scandals to keep the fundies home. Let's have more of those, please.

The middle message is all about covering traitor and near-traitor ass. Schumer, Joe and Rahm probably understand that they've been a little too in line with the Republicans for the last few years, and that the voters are going to punish, and keep punishing, anyone who continues to parrot the Republican messages which have resulted in so many failures across the policy board. The real energy, small donor money, activism, GOTV efforts and effective messages came from the progressive wing of the party, and will continue to do so in 08.

It amuses me to think that there are still some Democrats who don't get that. They will.