Nearly two weeks after their midterm mauling by the GOP, hardcore Democrats are stuck somewhere between denial and desperation.Count Alaska’s incumbent Democrat Sen. Mark Begich among those in denial. Although Republican challenger Dan Sullivan won the Last Frontier Senate seat by at least 8,100 votes, Begich refused to concede until the last vote was counted.By the way, the Alaska Senate seat had been considered key to the GOP’s goal of regaining control of the U.S. Senate, but that goal was met before the Alaska race was decided. Still, Sullivan’s victory caused glee in the GOP and gloom in the Democrats, who had hoped Begich could repeat his 2008 come-from-behind victory over Republican Sen. Ted Stevens.As in other states, the GOP strategy in Alaska was to portray the senate race there as a “referendum on President Barak Obama and Senate Democratic Majority Leader Harry Reid.”