A brutal, bitter letter to TPM from an anonymous Senate staffer is worth reading in full. Money-quote:
This is my life and I simply can't answer the fundamental question: "what do Democrats stand for?" Voters don't know, and we can't make the case, so they're reacting exactly as you'd expect (just as they did in 1994, 2000, and 2004). We either find the voice to answer that question and exercise the strongest majority and voter mandate we've had since Watergate, or we suffer a bloodbath in November. History shows we're likely to choose the latter.
I'm not a Democrat; and I'm patient; and understand the enormous difficulties of the process. But still, the loss of this bill is devastating. The Republicans have led the country into a ditch, but with denial, energy, determination and barely any in-fighting. I don't want to see the Dems turn into the same kind of thought-free machine. And I want Obama to break that particular cycle. But unless you have a minimally functional legislative branch, I don't quite see how it's done in a recession and a political climate that has been deliberately toxified to benefit the extreme right.