QUOTE OF THE DAY – AT 8:06 A.M. ET:  From Matthew Continetti's excellent summation of political 2009, in The Weekly Standard:

You won't find it in the "year in review" features in the papers and newsweeklies, but the story of 2009 was that a young, attractive, postpartisan presidential candidate decided to govern as a partisan liberal. The results have been declining public support, bad legislation, demoralized lefties, and a resurgent conservative movement. The gap between the American people and those who govern them from Washington, D.C., is widening.

It turns out John Edwards had a point: There really are two Americas. There's the America of the "expert" schemers, planners, and centralizers inside the Beltway, who think they know what's good for the people, whether the people like it or not. And there's the America of just about everyone else. They are no doubt the ones Irving Kristol had in mind when he wrote, "The common people in such a democracy are not uncommonly wise, but their experience tends to make them uncommonly sensible."

COMMENT:  That is correct, and the Weekly Standard piece is well worth reading. 

But a cautionary note:  Continetti's analysis also covers the fact that the national Republican Party remains unpopular.  We'll be writing about that because it is a liability that can severely impact what should be a successful 2010 for our side.

December 29,  2009