As  I mentioned earlier, a major contributing factor to the huge loss Creigh Deeds suffered last night was from the fact that he ended up running against the Democratic agenda. Markos gives some needed warning to the Democrats on what happened last night:

Giving Republicans cover by stymying the reform agenda that won Democrats the 2006 and 2008 elections won’t win them any conservative votes. In a base election, and 2010 will certainly be one, the party that better rallies its base will win. And abandoning the promises that got Democrats elected is a sure fire way to make sure that the activist base stays home and refuses to do the heavy lifting every campaign needs to win, and makes sure that less committed Democrats say “fuck it” and stay home on election night.

This is exactly what the Democrats have been doing this year, and healthcare is a shining example. Instead of starting out with a package that the left would have loved, something like universal coverage, the Democrats immediately started bowing to the Republicans and making healthcare less liberal. That was before the rightwing attacks could even start. Once they did then Democrats took even more out of the reform.

The Democrats need to remember who their base is, the people who will go out and knock on doors, man phone banks and most importantly – vote. The whole notion of bipartisanship gives you a warm and fuzzy feeling, like saying “a world without war”, but in reality it is just a fantasy. As soon as Democrats and the White House recognize this and stop bowing down to the party of 20%, then they will see their odds greatly improve in 2010 and beyond. Run like you did in 2008 and deliver on what you promise, then see what happens. I guarantee the results will be very pleasant to our side.