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.” Apparently, it worked. The GOP will have a 53-47 majority over the Democrats come January.
The Republicans hope to pick up another Senate seat next month by unseating incumbent Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu in the runoff election in Louisiana. Although she “won” the November election over Republican challenger Bill Cassidy, she failed to achieve the majority of votes required, thus triggering the runoff between the two in December.
As of this writing, Democrats are hoping to snatch victory from what looks like defeat for Landrieu by passing the Keystone XL Pipeline Bill, which she and Cassidy both support. That bill has long languished in the Senate, thanks mostly to Harry Reid’s intransigence. Democrats in both houses are now eager to join Republicans in getting identical bills enacted into law, well before the runoff election.
Whether this move of desperation by the Democrats serves to rescue Landrieu or not, it is, in my view, a good deal for the economy. Most experts say it will create a minimum of some 42,000 high-paying jobs, with positive ripple effects from all the secondary and tertiary resources required to complete the project.
  Back to Begich, his denial pales in comparison to the “Denier in Chief,” President Obama.
In a bizarre rationalization after what was clearly a GOP rout of Democrats, he said, “To everyone who voted, I want you to know that I hear you.” He quickly added, “To the two-thirds of voters who chose not to participate in the process yesterday, I hear you, too.”
Say what? If that’s not denial, I don’t know what is. President Harry S. Truman famously said, “The buck stops here.” Apparently, President Obama doesn’t grasp that concept. For him, the buck always seems to stop elsewhere. At least he didn’t blame George W. Bush this time around.
We can only hope the president will soon come to his senses and accept his share of responsibility for the Democratic defeats in this year’s midterm elections. Otherwise, it could be a long two years for him and our nation.
Retired Army Col. Thomas B. Vaughn can be reached at tbvbwmi@blomand.net.