Democrats, yes, have won a huge victory this year.  Fabulous.  Why?  We promise health care reform, we promise economic solutions, we promise government reform, better education, a reinvestment in American infrastructure, etc.  We promise these things, but let's be honest with ourselves, why did we win?  Our victory was in large part due not to a support for our ideas, but to an opposition to those supported by the other guys.  They suck, try us.  Like knowing you want Chinese food, but knowing, too, that the place down the block isn't really that great and besides it made you ill, so you're going to try the Golden Lotus, because it got some okay reviews and you're curious.  We're the Golden Lotus (which is actually located in Boulder, CO, and is very tasty) and they're telling us they want some mighty fine Chinese.  They're still wary of our ability to deliver and will go right back to the shittier restaurant if we suck, too.

A lot of the American people don't really have a thorough understanding of what the Democratic party stands for, what its values are, what its stance on various issues comes down to.  For too long our own lack of understanding with regard to our identity allowed the Republicans to attach labels to us.  But, now it's our turn.  We're on the offensive.  We must create a Democratic party identity that all Americans will recognize, and that most will find agreeable.  We must push aggressively forward on those values, flex our new muscles, and build ourselves up.  We've been losing for decades because we've been weak, because we've forgotten who we are.  We forgot the lessons of FDR's populism.  We forgot Camelot and the Great Society.  The Democratic party is a party that believes there is virtue in government, that a society is defined not by the religion, the race, or the personality of its people, but by the determination of its leadership to build something beautiful, to bring people together for common purpose, and to pave the way for a better humanity.

These beliefs, these values, are what brought America into becoming the powerhouse it was for the better part of the 20th century, and they can and perhaps will make us great again.  Our best times tend to come after our worst.  This is without doubt one of our worst.  Democrats can and Democrats must show Americans what it is that will make tomorrow one of the best.