In the first video, he says the Republican Party, united in its obstructionist ways, may have solidified Democratic resolve as we move toward a debate on climate change. Progressives certainly hope for as much.

In the second video, I pressed him on the way progressive expectations have been (mis)managed and whether or not anything can be done better moving forward. His answer is difficult to decipher, and for that I apologize. I certainly should have followed up. Unfortunately, I had my two year old son with me and he had some very important questions of his own. I had to cut the interview short.

In the end, we are left with the Senator saying that some very “harsh” messages could be sent, but we aren’t at that point yet. Unfortunately, we can’t be sure if the messages he speaks of would be directed at the Nelsons, Lincolns, Landrieus and Bayhs, or if he’s suggesting that progressives need an eye-opener.

Ultimately, I think it is pretty clear that the latter holds more credence than the former. Simply put, there are more moderate and conservative Democrats in the Senate than there are liberal. Moreover, the conservative faction is pretty happy with the status quo; it’s the progressives that want change. If moderates are willing to kill a bill, even incremental progress is defeated. If you are a progressive desperate to make things better (even if only at the margins), something is almost always going to be better than nothing.

I wrote to a friend earlier tonight to say that I remember when the Democrats that worked the hardest to build the current majorities in the Senate and House thought there might be some form of party discipline imposed, at least on procedural votes… Some of those folks thought Committee Chairs could be taken away from recalcitrant caucus-members. Pretty funny, in hindsight, no? In fact, wayward conservative Democrats not only faced no discipline, but they were rewarded with everything they wanted.

Ultimately, party activists – the folks that walked miles knocking on doors, logged scores of hours at the phone banks, blogged ’til their fingers bled and organized around the clock… Well, they saw the results of their work: Obama in the White House, sixty votes in the Senate and a huge majority in the House have produced a health care bill that only the insurance and pharmaceutical lobbies can love.

If Democrats don’t learn to manage expectations better as they move on to big fights over immigration, banking reform, and climate change, they may be in for some tough sledding in 2010.