And beyond 2008, Podhoretz has an article that looks beyond the 2010 census. He points out that Dems control a lot more state legislatures than before the election. A lot of the rules that Republicans put in place to create advantages for their candidates can be re-written; districts can be gerrymandered to the Dems' advantage; etc.
Rove's strategies for GOTV, etc., were extremely powerful and effective. But the advantages were not enduring for the simple reason that the Dems could imitate them. We need to get back to the marketplace of ideas.
While it's true that the Dems made some big gains in the legislatures, don't totally despair. For instance, we retained control of Texas, Florida, Georgia and Utah - all of which are expected to have additional seats after 2010. In addition, we kept the Dems from totally controlling states like New York (we held onto the state Senate), Ohio (we still control both house of the legislature) and other key states. The Dems don't have the ability to butcher districts to their advantage in many states, believe me. Plus, we have 2008 to make a come-back.
We need to learn from our mistakes and do better.
We have weak State GOP Chairman in a lot of states who don't have a clue. Rove did a poor job in this election IMHO. We did not have a huge GOTV drive instead depending on scare tactics which do not work!
Eaxactly. Rove's GOTV machine is a great way to squeeze every possible vote out of the pool of folks who want you to win. It reminds the forgetful, focuses the disoriented, and motivates the lazy.
What it does not do is affect the size of the pool of folks who want you to win. Turnout is important, but it is not a substitute for, through your deeds more than your words (at least when you are in power), convincing people to support what you support, and getting them into the pool of folks who want you to win, where GOTV can make a idfferance.