Like so many others in the progressive world, I was beyond dismay at the passage of Proposition 8 in California.  The joy of having helped elect so many great Democrats this year (not least of all President-Elect Barack Obama) was muted by the knowledge that the graffiti of hatred had once again been scrawled into a Constitutional document.  And it wasn't just California's Constitution that was defiled: same-sex marriage bans were passed in Florida and Arizona as well, and a particularly atrocious amendment was passed in Arkansas banning adoptions by unmarried couples.  These paradoxical defeats on a night of otherwise strong progressive victories show just how much farther we have to work for equality and human decency all across America.

And yet, there is a major silver lining to this cloud that will help Democrats and progressives for years to come: a benefit that would be foolish to overlook even as we gird ourselves for the fights ahead.

As I said yesterday, this election was not the end of a fight, but merely the beginning.  Many struggles still remain--including the one for marriage equality (see Paul Hogarth's excellent piece for why we failed in CA, and what we can do better in the future)--but by far the biggest challenge facing us now is the argument about money.

As soon as Obama takes the oath of office, Republicans will become sudden deficit-hawks.  Their allies in the conservative media (like the AP) will begin saying that there is no money for any of Obama's programs like national healthcare, national service, alternative energy and so many others.

Sorry for the short diary, but I had to interrupt my Obama canvassing here in Henderson, Nevada to bring you the big news: the No on 8 web ad written and produced by myself, hekebolos and theKK, and backed by the Courage Campaign is going on TV with a big election day ad buy in the Los Angeles and San Francisco markets.  The ad has been spreading around the blogosphere, but this is the biggest news yet.  If you haven't seen it yet, here's the ad:

Folks, I'm so proud of this.  Today we're releasing the final product of a totally volunteer, self-financed, zero-budget mostly netroots effort just finished today.  My brother hekebolos and I wrote the script based on his original concept this week.  It was produced by myself, my girlfriend theKK, and Reality Bites Back, with them doing the majority of the legwork to the tune of countless hours on the phone and tapping away at emails.  I can't say enough of the efforts of Reality Bites Back, who directed the piece and walked it through pre- and post-production.  Professional actors, crew and editors volunteered their time and talent for free, coming through in spades to support this production and very important cause.  The Courage Campaign provided organizational backing, location and help with promotion.

What can one say about the Associated Press these days?  Rather than realize the error of their ways in becoming a conservative mouthpiece out of their D.C. office instead of an objective news source, they've apparently doubled down their bets on McCain's dying presidential campaign.

Just moments after Obama's detailed, inspirational video tonight, the AP's McCain-loving Washington Bureau came out with their latest hit-piece masquerading as journalism:

Those of you watching Hardball tonight on the East Coast just had a chance to see one of the most disgusting interviews you will ever see on a 24-hour news network.  Michelle Bachmann has been a longtime McCain surrogate on the cable shows, spewing her special brand of hate and lies for a Party that thrives on them.

But tonight, Bachmann outdid herself.  When Matthews played for her clips of McCain's Ayers robocalls and Palin's statement about "pro-America" locations, Congresswoman Bachmann agreed wholeheartedly with every assertion.  She claimed that she was very concerned that Obama had anti-American views.  She called Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi extreme far leftists and extreme liberals, and equated them with William Ayers as an extreme leftist who hates America.  Finally, she demanded that the media investigate every member of Congress to see which ones are "anti-America" and which ones are "pro-America."

For the YouTube impaired, this was the final quote:

"What I would say is that the news media should do a penetrating expose and take a look.  I wish they would.  I wish the American media would take a great look at the views of the people in Congress and find out, are they pro-America or Anti-America?  I think the American people would love to see an expose like that."

But really, the full interview has to be watched.  It was indescribably outrageous in its McCarthyesque evil, and the more she talked, the more rope Matthews gave her to hang herself with.

Fortunately, we don't have to fume and scream impotently about this.  El Tinklenberg is running against Bachmann, and was just added to the Red-to-Blue list three days ago.  We can channel our anger and outrage, and make sure that such a despicable human being never graces the halls of Congress again.

Tinklenberg has the money and the capacity to win:

Blaine, MN - The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee announced today that El Tinklenberg has been added to their top-tier Red to Blue program as a candidate for change. The announcement follows Tinklenberg's financial report which shows $469,000 raised in the third quarter and $1,000,065 raised this cycle. Tinklenberg filed with $356,631 cash on hand.

"The candidates for change being named to the DCCC Red to Blue program are running solid campaigns and are committed to making things easier for middle class families in their districts," said Chris Van Hollen, Chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. "El Tinklenberg has worked hard to make his race competitive, and he's moving into position to win. With a solid campaign organization and strong momentum in the district, El Tinklenberg has proven that he has what it takes to defeat Rep. Michele Bachmann."

The polling shows that we can win, as Bachmann is at only 42% with 15% undecided and an overwhelming majority feeling the country is on the wrong track:

DCCC Poll Shows Bachmann Kissed up to Bush Too Many Times

Tinklenberg Holds Bachmann to 4 point lead; Her Approval Ratings Plummet

Last Friday, Minnesota Public Radio reported that the National Republican Congressional Committee planned to pull its television ads in Minnesota's third congressional district to defend Republican Congresswoman Michele Bachmann in Minnesota's sixth congressional district. They did so with good reason if their polling at all matches a poll the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee released today showing Bachmann with only 42 percent of the vote to Elwyn Tinklenberg's 38 percent, and 15 percent are undecided. Elwyn Tinklenberg has won the endorsements of both the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party and the powerful Independence Party of Minnesota. The poll was conducted by Grove Insight, from October 10 thru 12, of 400 people with 4.9 margin of error.

The four point spread in the race comes after the Alliance for a Better Minnesota television began running a television ad highlighting Michele Bachmann's close ties to President Bush including her infamous kiss at last year's State of the Union address.   According to the DCCC's poll, President Bush's approval rating in the district is at an abysmal 18 percent and Bachmann herself isn't fairing much better with only 34 percent. Additionally, 82 percent of respondents said that the country is "off on the wrong track."

Unfortunately, Tinklenberg hasn't gotten the Netroots love he deserves: he's only raised $2,500 on ActBlue so far.  We can do better.  Show him some love today.  And kick the anti-American, McCarthyist Bachmann out of the Congress she defiles with her bigoted presence.  Show her that there's a price to be paid from freedom-loving Americans for using that kind of language on the airwaves.

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"Roughly 94 percent of the people in capitalist America make their living from wage or salary. Only 6 percent are true capitalists in the sense of deriving  income from ownership of the means of production...We can win the argument once and for all by simply making more of our people Capitalists."

   --Ronald Reagan

If there's one thing Democrats are good at, it's snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.  2006 was a welcome change from that pattern, but Democrats are poised to revert to form by unwittingly falling right into a GOP trap with their support of a speedy, massive bailout plan for Wall Street.  Except that in this case, the electoral repercussions from failing to avoid this trap will last not only this election, but for at least a decade.

Absent a substantial change in conventional wisdom and current courses of action, Democrats are going to spend the next two weeks or so losing this and upcoming elections in ten easy steps.