We lost the election because we lost sight of America's most important political truism.

[Xithras]

People vote their self interests. Always.

Health care reform.
Credit card reform.
Hate crimes laws.
Guantanamo Bay.
Student loan reform.

These are the laurels that the Democratic leadership hoped to rest on and use as a platform for this election. Unfortunately, they overlooked one important fact: None of these things made the slightest amount of difference to the average Joe American.

Sure, from a philosophical and general moral perspective we agree that it's a good thing to prosecute gay bashers, or that human rights are now being respected, but none of these have made even a modicum of difference to most of us. The laws are either not in effect yet or only benefit a small number of people.

People are losing their jobs. They're watching their neighbors and relatives lose their homes. They're watching prices climb while their wallets shrink. They're uncertain about their children's future. They're watching higher education simultaneously become more expensive, and less relevant. They're seeing their taxes go up, while government services still go down. They're witnessing an overall degradation of their lifestyle, and the conditions of their communities.

The Democratic Party has spent the past two years focused on niche subjects that benefit a few million people. In the meantime, the other 300 million people in the country have been suffering, and have been largely ignored by both the White House and the legislature. We need to see fundamental changes to our economic laws, to reduce the outsourcing of manufacturing, to provide priority to the purchasing of American made goods, to eliminate the massive monetary burdens that health care and education saddle us with, and to restore the the technological leadership that has made America great over the past century. Instead of vision and innovation to turn America around, we were given some repaved roads and new overpasses.

The Democratic Party flaked. And now the voters have flaked right back.