...the other big loser

For all of his hyped genius, little-to-no return in this election cycle - once we called bullshit on using fear and 'dirty tricks' to sell policies that would otherwise never be bought. Karl Rove's tactic of placing highly partisan politics over ethical or sound policy appears to have finally lost its effectiveness. (For now.)

Let's review where George Bush's agenda now stands:

1. As noted previously, neoconservatism (and with it, unprovoked wars of 'pre-emption') is dead
2. Social Security will not be privatized under George W Bush
3. The worst provisions of the 'Patriot Act' now stand a chance of receiving close scrutiny
4. Tax cuts for the rich will likely not be extended
5. Energy Policy written directly by the industry is much less likely to pass
6. Assuming Webb wins in Virginia (and Tester's win stands in Montana), the Senate will not confirm another nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court in the mold of Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas or Samuel Alito
7. The religious right's 'wedge issues' (e.g., abortion, gay marriage) will likely fade in influence over future election narratives
8. ...and, we can perhaps now begin a real debate about what to do with the greatest strategic disaster in America's history: Iraq

Of course, I do not believe these Democratic gains necessarily mean that all of these issues will now magically get resolved, or that we will never see campaign dirty tricks in future elections, again.

But at the very least, democracy in America now once again has a pulse after many electoral defibulator failures in 2000, 2002, and 2004 - largely due to Rove's anti-democratic tactics.

For that, I believe I will now be able to sleep a little easier...

UPDATE: Glenn Greenwald nails it, yet again:

Karl Rove isn't all-powerful; today, he is a rejected loser. Republicans don't possess the power to dictate the outcome of elections with secret Diebold software. They can't magically produce Osama bin Laden the day before the election. They don't have the power to snap their fingers and hypnotize zombified Americans by exploiting a New Jersey court ruling on civil unions, or a John Kerry comment, or moronic buzzphrases and slogans designed to hide the truth (Americans heard all about how Democrats would bring their "San Francisco values" and their love of The Terrorists to Washington, and that moved nobody).

All of the hurdles and problems that are unquestionably present and serious -- a dysfunctional and corrupt national media, apathy on the part of Americans, the potent use of propaganda by the Bush administration, voter suppression tactics, gerrymandering and fundraising games -- can all be overcome. They just were.

Bush opponents haven't been losing because the deck is hopelessly stacked against them. They were losing because they hadn't figured out a way to convey to their fellow citizens just how radical and dangerous this political movement has become. Now they did, and as a result, Americans see this movement for what it is and have begun the process of smashing it.

Thanks for articulating my thoughts exactly, Glenn, as you so often do. Both this excerpted comment as well as the rest of your post are right on....