What I Learned from Election 09

1. Money can buy you an election in NYC, but not by nearly as much as you thought.

2. "Red States" are a myth. North Carolina elected an openly gay mayor of Chapel Hill and the first Democratic mayor of Charlotte in three decades.

3. "Blue states," sadly, are also a myth, as Corzine goes down in Jersey. Any bets on whether he'll return to Goldman Sachs?

4. Boring Blue Dogs don't win close elections, progressive, dynamic reform candidates win close elections. See Deeds, Creigh, losing a state that Obama won fairly easily.

5. Palin is still poison. And Democrats have two more vote in the House.

6. People are still willing to vote to take away the rights of others. Dear Maine, I am sorely disappointed.

7. While gay marriage is still scary, apparently gay politicians, at least in cities, aren't.

8. Most importantly, there IS no coherent narrative from last night. Maybe the only thing we can say is that organizing matters, GOTV mattters, and the media don't have a clue.