The Rumors of Our Death Have Been Greatly Exaggerated

Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) resoundingly defeated opponent Jim Martin in the Georgia Senate runoff yesterday, simultaneously defeating plans for a Donkey super-majority in the Senate.

Reporting on this race was mostly muted by the so-called Mainstream Media - the above-cited item ran on page 4 of the Washington ComPost. I wonder how many columns the front page banner headline would have read had Martin carried the day.

Despite Steve Kornacki's obtuse analysis in the New York Observer (Warning: Don't read Kornacki's column unless you can stomach the taste of sour grapes!), this win was quite important and it did carry a multi-faceted message that we should remember well going forward:

1. Barack Obama has no coattails, which means he is going to find it pretty lonely at the top, even among fellow Donkeys

2. The margin of Chambliss's victory clearly demonstrates that the GOP brand is alive and well, just a little bruised

3. Sarah Palin can still draw a crowd

4. Now that the 60-seat majority is out of the questions, Al Franken's damn-the-torpedoes strategy to win Minnesota at all costs may not receive wide support among cooler heads in the Democratic Party