How the Chargers and Cowboys Are Like Democrats

In 2009, Democrats held 59½ (Lieberman is the half) Senate seats, they had a massive party ID advantage, and people were willing to forgive almost anything as long as if was different than George Bush. At the start of this football season the San Diego Chargers and Dallas Cowboys were projected to waltz through the regular season and were favorites to go to the Super Bowl.

Today, the Democrats are reduced to praying to retain a slim majority in the Senate (assuming Lieberman doesn't flip) and one of the few teams more embarrassing than the Chargers is the Cowboys. How did this happen?

• Overconfidence - Like Karl Rove in 2000, Democrats deluded themselves into believing that the 2008 election marked a generational shift that would lead to Democratic government for years to come. Overconfidence leads to...
• Laziness - When you believe victory is your due you stop working for it. Martha Coakley in Massachusetts is the poster girl for lazy politicians. In football, lazy players whiff blocks. The Chargers gave up two blocked punts in the first quarter against the pathetic Oakland Raiders because the special teams players were saving their energy for the after-game party.
• Backbenchers Fail - What has Ben Nelson (D-NE) accomplished in his decade in the Senate? I'll wait.... Give up? Nothing. No major legislation bears his name, not even anything minor. He's delivered a little pork to the hog farmers in his state but that's about it. None of the Blue Dog Democrats is an accomplished politician. They are like the backups who only play on kick-offs and punts. When the benchwarmers stop acting like part of the team, stop contributing to the team effort, the team loses.
• The Blame Game - This is a coaching issue. It is always someone else's fault never the guy actually in charge. Winning teams man up when they lose.

All three teams (Chargers, Cowboys, Democrats) might still pull off enough wins this season. But all three are profoundly disappointing.