We all cope with failure in our own ways, my friends. Some of us tell ourselves that we’re still doing a heckuva job, no matter what the idiots out there think. Some of us retreat into fantasy and start making plans for what we’ll do after our inevitable success. And some of us gird our loins and rally ourselves to hang in there, no matter how bleak things might look.

Gotta say, of the three, I prefer Biden’s approach.

Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. urged Democrats on Friday to shake away their pessimism about the midterm elections, declaring: “The reports of the death of the Democratic Party have been greatly exaggerated.”…

“On Nov. 3, the day after the election, there will be a Democratic majority in the House and a Democratic majority in the Senate,” Mr. Biden said. “If it weren’t illegal, I’d make book on it.”…

“When we have the American people focus on our differences, I think we are going to do just fine in November,” Mr. Biden said, speaking over applause from a few hundred attendees. “The choice is not between Democrats and the Almighty, it’s between Democrats and the Republican Tea party.”

I’m tempted to mock, but can we really fault him for this? What else is a coach supposed to do when his team’s down 40 points at halftime? Tell ’em to go out there and try not to lose by 80? (Actually, maybe that’s exactly what they should be doing.)

While Biden was giving his pep talk today, WaPo was busy expanding its coverage of this year’s Senate races from 10 contested seats to 15. It seems that another five contests have suddenly become toss-ups; four of them involve seats currently held by Democrats. Content warning.