Jim: Destined for Political Oblivion: Ned Lamont. It’s really quite shocking that his primary win was such an earthquake, wasn’t it? And then, pfffffft. The air came out of the balloon.

And while the Netroots crowd can claim to have played a role in the Democrats’ good year, the blogging riffraff around Lamont proved themselves a bunch of no-talent assclowns. Lamont could have taken a couple million out of his cable TV fortune and flushed it down the toilet, and gotten about the same results. Ned Lamont never had a prayer of beating Lieberman in a general election; yet his supporters touted the deer-in-the-headlights stiff as the second coming of John F. Kennedy. They couldn’t get the antiwar candidate to win in Connecticut in the best year for Democrats in a decade, maybe 20 years.

They came up with “Rape Gurney Joe,” the Kos-enters-Lamont’s-house ad, the Lieberman-in-blackface image, the silly and stupid coordinated effort to talk up Schlesinger’s chances. Afterwards, they insisted that Lieberman’s 10 point victory was “hollow.” The Lamontsters never figured out how to persuade someone who didn’t already agree with them. They will ultimately be remembered as a noisy but ineffective sideshow; the John Birch Society without the firearms, the Lyndon LaRouche Crowd with modems.

Runner Up: George Allen. Was this guy really going to make a serious push for the GOP nomination?

Cam: Destined for Political Oblivion? My pick is Patty Wetterling. Who? She’s run for Congress twice in Minnesota, and lost both times. If you’re a Democrat running for an open seat in Minnesota in 2006, and you don’t win… pack it in sister, because you’re finished.

Marshall: Sounds to me like most of those folks have reached political oblivion already. Not sure they need a push from us.

As for destined for political oblivion, I’m going with Roy Blunt. Whipping a minority operation in the House is challenging. But keeping the conference together — or getting it back together — is more important than ever. Blunt is destined to fail, and, I fear, spectacularly. If GOPers struggle to regain their House majority, the lack of visionary leadership in the House will surely be a big reason.

Shempu: Wheee!!! I’m so glad to be out of the bathtub! My flippers were getting cramped. Shempu’s pick for Political Oblivion is that guy who wrote “Painting the Map Red”. How well did that work out in November? Shempu says you might as well write a book about how 9/11 will impact politics for decades. Wheee!!!!

Jim: (sigh) Damn that Shempu. Damn him. (reverting to McLaughlin voice) Gutsy choice by Mr. Manson! Presidents in their final two years begin thinking of their legacy and always want to accumulate legislative accomplishments; and 19 House Republicans won by five percentage points or less in 2006 - quite a few by the skin of their teeth. These 19 House Republicans will be eager to pass popular initiatives on a bipartisan basis, while the House Republican Caucus of the coming congress will be more conservative overall, and eager to block the agenda of Nancy Pelosi. Blunt. Has his work. Cut out for him. Back after this break.