MSNBC's blog wrote Just 32% of Tea Party candidates win, I guess that's good news. In the Senate 5/9 won with a tenth still undecided (Joe Miller in AK). In the House just 40/122 won, with 8 more undecided.
TPM writes All 95 Candidates Who Pledged Support For Net Neutrality Lost On Tuesday. I doubt that was a big issue on voters minds but they were all Democrats.
Ezra Klein wrote Democrats lost big because young voters stayed home and had this graph:
Kevin Drum in Pundit Alert commented on a few more and of course so did Glenn Greenwald in Pundit sloth: Blaming the left.
The New York Times says Democrats Outrun by a 2-Year G.O.P. Comeback Plan and describes it a bit. They used Rahm Emanuel's tactics of having a list and going after lots of weak and strong candidates (which just seems like common sense).
"They also tried to push Democrats into retirement, using what was described in the presentation as “guerilla tactics” like chasing Democratic members down with video cameras and pressing them to explain votes or positions. (One target, Representative Bob Etheridge of North Carolina, had to apologize for manhandling one of his inquisitors in a clip memorialized on YouTube. Only this week did Republican strategists acknowledge they were behind the episode.)"
They also talked about Rove's new group American Crossroads which fed a lot of money into advertising campaigns thanks to the Citizen's United ruling.
Marc Ambinder writes What Now? An Epic Election Meets the Future. "Amid all of the post-morterms, Republicans will be exceptionally busy. Many in the party will try to discredit the very idea of a rump session of Congress given the magnitude of the defeat. Watch for groups like American Crossroads to spend money on television advertising here -- they've got to spend at least 51% of it on things other than candidates, and they have plenty left over. Rush Limbaugh, Mark Levin, Sarah Palin, Fox News, and the Tea Party contingent of new House members will argue that a rump session is a chance for Democrats to ram unpopular policies through America's throats after they've made a decision to change direction. Will Speaker-elect Boehner face a challenge? Will the Republicans have to incorporate someone with Tea Party credentials into the leadership, especially if Rep. Mike Pence leaves the ranks to run for President? (Rep. Kevin McCarthy is a logical candidate for a promotion.)"
"Democrats are already playing down the notion that they'll get much done in a lame duck session. They'd rather punt to January particularly the big issues, like tax cuts. "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"? Don't even bother. On taxes, the outline of a compromise is there, having been floated by Vice President Biden: the rates might stay in place for a larger number of wealthier Americans. The Estate Tax, which jumps up to 55% in January, will probably be restored at a lower rate. Capital gains taxes will also be higher, but not as high as they're slated to be. Supporters of the START treaty are very worried."
"According to Newsweek, the White House plans to aggressively enforce environmental regulations as they anticipate efforts from Republicans to strip authority from the EPA. Compromise on renewable energy standards is possible, but the posturing between Rep. Joe Barton[he was the one who apologized to BP for the congressional hearings after the spill], the chairman of the energy committee, and the administration, may make this terribly difficult. The GOP plans to hold high profile hearings examining the alleged "scientific fraud" behind global warming, a sleeper issue in this election that motivated the base quite a bit. "
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