This is why I got so worked up.

The Bull Moose from the Democratic Leadership Council calls Joe's win a victory for "country over party," and then he mouths off about "bloviating bloggers" who tried to destroy "the vital center."

It's fine for the guy to be happy that his boy won. I'd have been happy if Ned Lamont has won, for sure.

But this wasn't a smackdown on blowhards with laptops. If the Bull Moose really wanted some change in Washington, he'd be more gracious and would be happy that Lamont's campaign energized so many people around the country and in Connecticut to get involved rather than sit on the sidelines.

What most distresses me about Joe's win is that it will be spun in such a way as to discourage people from getting interested and involved in politics. I actually think that elitists in both parties would be very happy to discourage citizen participation unless they feel they can control and orchestrate the actions of those citizens.

But this isn't over. If the higher-ups from both parties don't realize that Ned's run proved that the grass roots can, indeed, turn an unknown figure into a national contender, then they're in for a nasty shock in the coming years.

Sure, we lost. One election. But this ain't over. Lamont's campaign should serve as a model for future challengers. More elections just 2 years away. With lessons learned from Lamont's campaign, the grass roots have a real shot at winning some contests next time. Actually, that was too pessimistic of me. The grass roots did win some this time. The Lieberman/Lamont race was high profile, but that enthusiasm helped take a Republican house seat in Connecticut, and many more around the country last night.