Well until the grip of Wall Street and and the military industry can be broken, there really is no a whole hell of a lot that can be done. Military contractors are now the biggest employers in the country bar none and those that work for them nearly always vote republican.

Progressives are in the minority. But on the bright side a colilition of progressives, African Americans and Hispanic and Latino Americans might get something done.

From the national party's point of view:

1. Start pummeling Wall Street. Stop worrying about being a crude populist. You're againt the malefactors of great wealth, every day.

2. Win back the Rust Belt. That's what we lost last night: the indistrial midwest. Saving GM was apparently not enough, because even saving GM only slowed the economic decline in those states. You need an industrial policy that leads to job *growth.*

From the grass-roots point of view:

1. Think ground-up. We need to build our ground game. We need to be fighting and winning races for state legislatures and school boards and local zoning boards. And we need to build one serious mother of a GOTV machine.

2. Start keeping lists of earmark spending votes by Republicans, especially in the House. Republicans who vote for pork should get hammered as voting for pork: "Voted for two and a hlaf billion dollars in pork, and then voted to cut your social security." Those who vote against earmarks should get hammered for local projects they blocked or killed ("blocked projects that would have created 600 jobs in Cedar Rapids").

3. Pick our spots for protests. Scattershot protests about our whole wishlist won't do much good, but we can create intense demonstrations against the most vicious spending cuts. When they go after Social Security or Medicare, or if they allow insurance companies to refuse coverage to children, we take it to the streets. There are legitimate things to be angry about.

1. No compromise on the middle class tax cut. Stand alone legislation. No deals, no tradeoffs. Veto everythiing else.

2. Fire Geithner and give him two weeks to clean out his office. Nominate a replacement. Job definition: Sales experience. Be able to speak the iambic pentameter. (that's close enough). Empathetic. Adept at expressing instant outrage and indignation, especially when it comes to Wall Street, banks and outsourcing. Thus, spend six months on Capitol Hill haranguing Republicans under the guise of a confirmation hearing. If that doesn't work, send in another one, even more in-your-face. TAKE THAT, you phony non-fiscal conservatives.  

3. Meanwhile, set up 10 mortgage foreclosure centers in abandoned shopping centers along a route roughly equivalent to the Erie Canal. Mortgage Resolution Centers. Banks will no longer rip off the people. Obama to visit each center, roll up his sleeves a la WWII, this is an Economic War, people. Clear the foreclosure backlog. Use whatever means to get companies from red states to relocate to Pennsylvania. (Ohio, not so much).

4. Use the bully pulpit to force a bank CEO to resign, preferably from B.of A. Two bank CEO's would be better. Stay on them every day until they walk out in complete disgrace.

5. Narrative. The writer John Gardner is credited with the quote: "There are only two stories. Someone goes on a journey. A stranger comes to town." Obama must appropriate both these stories. The "strangers" are the tea partiers, not, by God, him. The journey needs to be defined. Where is it exactly we're going? What will out society look like? Why should we take the journey with him?

6. Pray that Ben Bernanke can save you.