Democrats Redefine "Victory"

Bill Clinton yesterday, giving a pep talk to Senate Dems on the health care debate:

He said the opposition is so loud because Democrats are so close to victory....

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., said Clinton attempted to settle Democrats' fears about the boisterous opponents of health care legislation who made themselves known at town hall meetings in August and at a large weekday rally attended by 5,000 or so demonstrators and Republican Congress members at the Capitol last week.

"The reason the teabaggers are so inflamed is because we are close on health care," said Whitehouse, paraphrasing Clinton's argument.

Well, I don't want to ask Sheldon what he knows about inflamed teabags (that's a question Mr. Clinton would be more qualified to answer). By redefining victory as simply a measure of how many people are enraged with you, well, I guess in their own world the Democrats can lock arms and sing "We are the Champions" once they socialize medicine. But the rest of the nation - including the dreaded "teabaggers" -has a different idea of what composes victory for them, and they are out to achieve it as well.

Let's see what the Democrat's "victory" has achieved to date:

- The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey shows that 43% would vote for their district’s Republican congressional candidate while 37% would opt for his or her Democratic opponent. Republicans have held the lead for over four months now.
Voters not affiliated with either party continue to heavily favor Republicans, 43% to 20%.
Gallup reports virtually identical findings...

-the complete massacre of Virginia liberals, spurred on by Barack Obama and health care. Still believe all politics are local? When asked if their vote for McDonnell was a "check against the Dems/Obama", voters opted for the check and balance by a 55%-35% margin. Independents (who voted for Obama by one point in 2008 in Virginia) opted for a check and balance by an overwhelming 58%-25% margin. And on Obama’s endorsement of Creigh Deeds: “24% said they were more likely to vote for Deeds, while 32% were less likely.”

-via Campaign Spot: Next time someone tells you the Tea Partiers are an irrelevant fringe, remind them that the Tucscon branch of the Tea Partiers just mobilized to defeat a Democratic member of the city council, the first time in anyone's memory that an incumbent Democrat has been defeated; registered Democrats outnumber registered Republicans 2-to-1

-and let's not forget Corzine's loss in New Jersey, where Obama stumped heavily for the incumbent, Democrats have a 600,000+ voter registration edge, and the challenger was outspent 3-1.

-and on a smaller but still significant note, the long-time Democratic leader of the Clinton's newest home town -the affluent and deep blue Westchester, New York -was tossed out on his ass as well: Spano lost to Astorino 58 percent to 42 percent, based on unofficial results from the Westchester County Board of Elections. This despite a 2-to-1 voter registration advantage for Democrats in Westchester County.
But Astorino tapped heavily into voter outrage over high taxes and a faltering economy...

"Voter outrage"? Why, that means the Democrats won! Just ask Spano! And Corzine, and Deeds...

Democratic victories like this, I can take all day long...