Obvious

Uodate II: Dems need to empower the rightwing whackos who think the special-election victory is a repudiation of the black, radical president who stole their country as he ushers in socialism-communism-fascism [and other isms they don't understand] supported by black helicopters, women and assorted darkies. A prediction: Congress will pass the Senate health bill, followed by needed improvements by the Spring passed into law by that commie majority-rules voting procedure. Congress will pass the financial regulatory bill. And newly enlightened Dems will start sounding populist and swinging for the fences.

Update: Nichols in The Nation: "Dems need to recognize that they've mismanaged the health care debate, spent too little time focused on jobs and haven't held Wall Street and the big banks to account."

From Mike Madden:

After all, focusing on creating jobs and helping the rest of the economy recover as quickly as Wall Street has is exactly the kind of policy that makes for good politics. One senior Democratic strategist, closely allied with the White House, says the party needs to deliver something tangible for voters, to have something to show for their control of government. 'You need to listen to voters,' the strategist said. 'There's a lot of anger out there. They want to see action, they want people in Washington to address their concerns.' It's shocking, in retrospect, that it took the loss of a seat Democrats had held since 1952 for the party to realize that.

And the Filibuster: Talk about its evil, sent by Satan and sustained by Democrats, and then kill it.