THE HUMBLE ACT AND THE RETURN OF "UPPITY"

Obviously, the Republicans have absorbed one basic bit of conventional wisdom about 1994 -- that Newt Gingrich's arrogance was a bad idea -- but I don't think that's the only explanation for their humble act:

...Many Republicans acknowledged the electorate's dour outlook in their victory speeches Tuesday night. "We make a great mistake if we believe tonight these results are somehow an embrace of the Republican Party," Marco Rubio, a tea party favorite who won Florida's closely watched Senate race, said Tuesday night. "What they are is a second chance -- a second chance for Republicans to be what they said were going to be not so long ago."

In Washington, [John] Boehner took the stage at a House GOP watch party where the mood was notably less celebratory than it's been during election-night festivities in years past. "This is not a time for celebration," Boehner somberly warned. "This is a time to roll up our sleeves and go to work." He called the election results "a repudiation of Washington, a repudiation of big government and a repudiation of politicians who refuse to listen to the people."

I think it's also an effort (by people like Boehner and Rubio, at least; I'm not sure how successful they'll be in a wingnut world that also includes Palin, DeMint, Limbaugh, Beck, etc.) to set themselves up as the thoughtful, responsive servants of the people as they approach a possible government shutdown, in which (as I said a couple of days ago) they'll probably try to blame Obama for the crisis. They want Obama to look out of touch, which equals "arrogant" and "elitist" and basically "uppity." I don't know if he'll step into the trap, but if he avoids it, it'll be because he's showing greater political cunning than he's had for the past 21 months.

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By the way, Maureen Dowd has the smartest take on the question of how different Boehner 2010 is from Gingrich 1994 -- and I'm not being sarcastic. Be sure to read her column all the way to the end.