In contrast the Dems were NOT fired up for this election. The Dems had no coherent message:
In the end, the Dems tried to fire up their base using the following issues:
Those issues could not overcome the malaise that came with the Dems lack of resolve on the issues. So while you crow about the great Republican victory (as is is a great victory) remember that if the black vote had come out in Missouri, Carnahan would've won and maybe even Max Cleland. If the Dems hadn't screwed the pooch with the Memorial/Rally, Mondale would've won. We could now be looking at the LA run-off, hoping to win in order to get a divided Senate again.
So it was a near thing. The really good news is that the Dems don't have a lot of good options now. If they try to fire up their base by going farther to the left, they are going to get HAMMERED in 2004. The Dems, far more than the Republicans, are a coalition party. Increasingly, they no longer have a true base. Thanks to Clintonism, the only things they stand for now are:
Everything else is negotiable. That's not a great base to build a majority party on.