A lesson that will go unheeded

Hugh Hewitt counterspins the Dems on California:

WITHIN MINUTES of the release of exit polls from California last night, Democrats had wheeled as one and began the hopeless attempt to spin the disastrous verdict. Senator Dianne Feinstein led the charge, but the refrain echoed throughout the party: This was a verdict on Davis's handling of the budget, a handling very similar to the fiscal mismanagement on the national level.
………
This delusional spin is great news for Republicans across the country. Gray Davis was booted from office because he imposed a massive tax hike on all California drivers while fecklessly allowing illegal aliens to get drivers' licenses. Davis was all Clinton-Carville when it came to the politics of personal destruction, and he didn't bother to disguise his total dependence on Sacramento's iron triangle of special interests: Indian gambling, trial lawyers, and public employee unions.

All of which is obvious. But when Democrats reflexively reject even the obvious conclusions, they demonstrate a capacity for political suicide reminiscent of Britain's Labour party in the late '70s and early '80s. The refusal of Dean and other senior Democrats to understand Tuesday's vote is an almost certain indication of electoral disaster ahead.

And that’s why I always say that DNC chair Terry McAuliffe is the greatest friend of the GOP. All he offers is smear, anger, and venom. For example: check out the DNC’s blog (with the classy name “Kicking Ass”.) No solutions, no hope, no proposals – all Bush bashing all the time including petty swipes at the new Bush blog.

Extra: Robert Musil on blame-shifting in CA.