Unmitigated Disaster

A few weeks ago, some genius wrote this:

So if we lose control of Congress this election, so be it. Let America see
what Dems do with power once they're unleashed. America will come back, probably
running.

The harsh reality is sitting on me a little differently, to say the least. I had taken it as a forgone conclusion that we'd lose the House (in itself shocking, considering how gerrymandered all the districts are), but I truly didn't see Republicans losing the Senate. With Allen now all but officially counted out in VA, that's looking to be the case.
I'll be honest: I've been pretty depressed today. But I'm not going to come unhinged over this. Too many liberals have spent the last 6 years renting their clothes, pulling their hair, dressing in sackcloth, and saying how the entire country and our democracy are going down the tubes. I'm not going to indulge in the same behavior simply because things didn't go my way this time.
I will say that I'm extremely concerned that Democrats are not serious about the war we're in. Ever since we invaded Iraq, I think most of them (with at least one notable exception being Joe Lieberman) have used it as a club to beat over the heads of Republicans, without any concern whatsoever about how what they were saying was affecting our efforts there. The enemy understands that they can only win in the battle of wills, and most Democrats have gone around endlessly harping on everything that goes wrong and disparaging everything that goes right. There's no way anyone can possibly argue they've done anything constructive to make the situation any better. And spare me the argument that they're only concerned about the troops; if they're emboldening the enemy, they're only making the soldiers' job that much harder.
I do hope that now that Democrats have the Congress, they'll get beyond that and govern in a way that's good for the country. In one sense, I'd almost welcome them to come after Bush with everything they've been saying, because America won't like it and would probably reverse some of their gains in '08. But that's not what's best for America right now.
And as hard at it is for me to say this, in a lot of ways, we brought this on ourselves. People aren't inspired to vote for candidates who's biggest selling point is "The other guy would be worse!" Compare and contrast, ok, fine, but first you need to define what you believe, why you believe it, and why the voters should agree with you, before you point out all the reasons they shouldn't agree with your opponent.
So, Dems, you win this round. Big time. You've been saying you want to do things differently, so now's your chance. So go ahead, raise the minimum wage, cut the interest rates on government funded college loans, and all that other stuff you want to do. Republicans probably won't fight you on any of that. But remember that you're in power not on your own merits. We fumbled, you recovered. Keep that in mind when you start thinking about raising taxes, or cutting military spending, or liberalizing immigration law, or passing anti-gun legislation, or any of the other stuff you've been historically known to do.
It just might not fly.