Krugman has the chart, and the right question:

Not that this will stop the coming deluge of BLLFOV, but:

...there’s not much evidence in the vote for anything besides a broad shift to Democrats, almost the same (~8%) across all the states, and probably a reaction to the state of the economy, stupid.... basically there was a national wave against Republicans, suggesting that we don’t need a complex narrative.

One of the many moronic thought patterns in today's addled political discourse is the notion that everything the winner did is smart and right, and everything the loser did was a disaster.

We hear that Gore's disputed loss, in which he received more votes, was a "massive fail."*

And now Steve Benen tells us that the unvetted Sarah Palin and "Joe The Plumber" were disasters for McCain.

Um, no. Both additions to McCain's supporting cast — despite Palin's weak résumé and the fact that "Joe's" story wholly contradicted the case it was purported to make — were clearly invigorating to a campaign ultimately doomed by many factors, including broad public sentiment against GOP politics, which rose to new heights with the financial meltdown, and the media's decision to stop propping up the mythical maverick. If one were to draw a lesson from them, it's that "Hail Mary" moves can spark a foundering campaign.

I'm calling my shot for this election: its aftermath will bring forth a gusher of false lessons that will haunt (and nauseate) us for years to come. Any predictions on what those lessons will be?

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* No disrespect intended to Shystee, who is a very bright fellow, indeed. Just singling out a recent citation of these pervasive and bogus "loser" memes.

Bad lessons learned from Obama's victory...

This is your country on "bickering partisanship," the straw man that Obama has made his flagship issue, since that day in the womb when he began his campaign for America's top job:

[Democrats] failed in an effort to give judges the power to modify mortgage terms for people who have filed for bankruptcy and Democrats were unable to get approval for part of any profits the government might receive to go to help people facing mortgage defaults.

One party whose unyielding priority is to prevent individual citizens (and families) from catching a break in bankruptcy proceedings, and another party that does nothing but yield to such demands.

Bad lessons learned from Obama's victory...

Despicable racism: "Fairy tale," "LBJ helped MLK," sleeping children, comparing someone to Britney Spears and Paris Hilton, not voting for Obama.

Enlightened ageism: "McCain is a crotchety old kook."

A theme I'll be returning to as Obama coasts to a win in November is how many bad lessons will be derived from his victory, and I invite others to post BLLFOV of their own.

For starters, we'll learn how great it is when Democrats help tear down the wall between church and state.

Obviously, that's doing us a lot of good:

Here is what we know for sure.

God is not schizophrenic

He would not tell one person to vote for Obama and one to vote for McCain....

[Obama] will continue to push for homosexual rights, even though you destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah for this.