We Are All Ted Haggard

Like most Democrats, I feel like it's Christmas Eve. I'm very excited to see what's under the tree. I'm counting the hours. Maybe not counting them like AmericaBlog ("Santorum: 5 Hours Bitch"), but eager enough that I am actually enduring Joe Squintborough on my tv for any glimmer of what we might be unwrapping later.

Still, I can't help but feel that even if we win the House and-- Diebold willing-- the Senate, there are a few inconvenient truths I have wanted to overlook this filthy campaign season. Did we get here on the back (literally) of a gay male prostitute and a bag of crystal? Did we get here at the expense of sexually harassed Congressional Pages? Will Harold Ford, Jr. win Tennessee because the Republicans miscalculated effects of a race-baiting ad?

The Harold Ford, Jr. I went to high school with didn't strike me as the kind of guy who would oppose gay marriage and print the 10 commandments on the back of his business card. And that got me thinking about how far we will go to win. Now, before the flood of comments start, insisting that it's the hypocrisy of the Republicans that is what is at issue here, I would suggest that Dems hold themselves to the same standards. How many of us are driving our SUVs to the polls today to vote on propositions reducing greenhouse gasses? How many of us complain about overpopulation and global warming, but would rather use a sperm bank or egg donor than recycle a child by adopting?

Is creepy Ted Haggard the only cheating husband, or recreational drug user, or liar we know? Or is he just the one who helps quench our thirst for revenge? Is revenge the object of this election? Or are we reduced to the nastiest campaign season ever because the Republicans set the tone and we have to fight fire with fire to wrest control of our democracy and get the hell out of Iraq? And speaking of Iraq, do the Democrats have a workable plan? Even local hero Murtha has been a little short on details. To sustain this victory, eventually Democrats will have to run for something, not just against something else.

While I will undoubtedly watch with glee as Nancy Pelosi assumes the speakership and the democratic gerrymandering starts, I have to wonder if the biggest lesson of this disgusting campaign cycle has been, once again, that we need public campaign finance. Of course, the big media conglomerates will do anything to prevent that from happening. But maybe next time around, that will leave the door open for YouTube. Imagine if all those clips of Ted Haggard were used to substantively inform the next generation of voters.