NYC Letter: Early Afternoon Schadenfreude, Day Seven

Day 657 of CHOPE

GRIEF COUNSELING AFTER THE WIPEOUT

November 8, 2010 (Politico) - A staffer for a congressional Democrat who came up short on Tuesday reports that a team of about five people stopped by their offices this morning to talk about payroll, benefits, writing a résumé, and so forth, with staffers who are now job hunting.

But one of the staffers was described as a "counselor" to help with the emotional aspect of the loss — and a section in the packet each staffer was given dealt with the stages of grief (for instance, Stage One being anger, and so on).

"It was like it was about death," the staffer said. "It was bizarre." The staffer did say the portions about the benefits and résumé writing were instructive.

The teams weren't sent by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office. Two people have suggested it may have been the Clerk's Office or Human Resources.

Stage one is denial.

DEMOCRATS EMPHASIZE IT'S NOT OVER,
PELOSI SAYS THEY'LL KEEP THE MAJORITY

November 2, 2010 (FNC) - With just a few hours before polls start closing around the country, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says Democrats will keep their majority in the House. ... The speaker does not expect to lose her job.

We do not recall this sort of solicitude in 2006 or 2008 for Republican staffers on the way out. We do, however, remember all the talk was of the death of the Republican party, how it had ceased to be relevant. Things couldn't be plainer. The electorate had scattered Republicans in the political desert where their only hope was to repudiate the sins of Bush and reconstitute themselves as the Democrat-lite alternative. [Pause.] In 2010 the Democrats are wiped out. The worse party dump in the 435-seat House since 1938. At the state level, it was even worse. Of the 37 gubernatorial races, Republicans won 29 for a gain of 8. And still it gets giddily worse for the Dems.

DEVASTATION: GOP PICKS UP 680 STATE LEG. SEATS

November 4, 2010 (National Journal) - Republicans picked up 680 seats in state legislatures, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures -- the most in the modern era. To put that number in perspective: In the 1994 GOP wave, Republicans picked up 472 seats. The previous record was in the post-Watergate election of 1974, when Democrats picked up 628 seats.

The GOP gained majorities in at least 14 state house chambers. They now have unified control -- meaning both chambers -- of 26 state legislatures.

Republicans now hold the redistricting "trifecta" -- both chambers of the state legislature and the governorship -- in 15 states. They also control the Nebraska governorship and the unicameral legislature, taking the number up to 16. And in North Carolina -- probably the state most gerrymandered to benefit Democrats -- Republicans hold both chambers of the state legislature and the Democratic governor does not have veto power over redistricting proposals.

Things couldn't be plainer for Democrats. Voters are whiny brats. The electorate has lost its mind. Democrats have problems with messaging, with the pitch. Other than these annoyances, the Democrat agenda remains good to go.

So. Stay the course. Speed the plow. Twenty-twelve is sure to put things right.

BAD NEWS DEMOCRATS --
2012 COULD BE WORSE THAN 2010
November 9, 2010 (Salon/AP)

CHOPE.

A river in Egypt.