With Labor Day behind us and Campaign 2010 in full swing, it’s easy for progressives to get depressed. Less than two years after Obama’s election should have ushered in a new era, Beltway pundits are crowing about a Republican takeover – all because a weak and ineffectual majority didn’t stand up to right-wing obstructionists who only want the President to fail. Right now, Democratic strategists are banking that Sarah Palin and the Teabaggers will alienate “swing voters” from the GOP. Such an approach misreads the country’s populist anger, and fails to acknowledge a real “enthusiasm gap” in America today. Nowhere is this fallacy more obvious than Nevada, where Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s saving grace may be his Republican opponent Sharron Angle – but polls there still show the race tight. I’m tempted to compare it with how Gray Davis won re-election in 2002, by getting the GOP to nominate a right-wing crank (who almost beat him.) Thankfully, there are still a few primaries that can save Democrats from themselves.