Can't get the stink out
He's been hangin' round for days
Comes like a comet
Suckered you but not your friends
They will get to you
And teach you how to be a holy cow

[refrain]

You do it to yourself, you do
And that's why it really hurts
You do it to yourself, just you
You and no one else
You do it to yourself
You do it to yourself

The overwhelming official and amateur pundit response on the right has been "you get what you deserve and we got it good." Politicians are held to a lower standard than the people they represent (the people they represent have real jobs to do) but in this case even the politcos knew they messed up.

"We did it to ourselves" at this time is a very healthy mindset for Republicans. "They did it to themselves" at this time is a very healthy mindset for Democrats. Democrats made great electoral success of just saying nothing and letting Republicans take a beating.

The setup for 2008 currently has the Republicans trying to find candidates and formulate policies that will appeal to 51%+ of the voters. They lost and know they have to do better. There is only one thing that could spoil Republican incumbent reform in this case. That one thing is the Democrats thinking they won instead of just finishing second to last in a two way race. If that happens they will repeat all the mistakes of excess that the Republicans learned in twelve years of majority power.

If the Democrats miss the point of this election and start looking like Republicans of a year ago (spending differently but as out of tune with the voters) the whole deal will be spoilt. The Republicans will just sit back and keep their gobs shut - changing nothing - waiting for the Dems to take their majority lumps in 2008. Hopefully the current Republican rush to act like adults will last and the Democrats will follow. If either one runs off the rails we will have another "can't they both lose?" election in 2008. People with real jobs hate those.