With the elections over, it will quickly be time for conservatives to finish up their victory laps and set aside the schadenfreude. But not quite yet! One of the most widely heard complaints about Republicans for the last two years is that the House majority was stopping President Obama from “getting anything done” and blocking all progress. The G in GOP might as well have stood for gridlock, or so we were told. It was just awful.

But now that the worm is facing in a new direction, Jonathan Chait seems to have seen the light.

The Democrats Have Two Choices Now: Gridlock or Annihilation

McConnell’s next play is perfectly clear. His interest lies in creating two more years of ugliness and gridlock. He does not want spectacular, high-profile failures that command public attention — no shutdowns, no impeachment. Instead, he wants tedious, enervating stalemate. McConnell needs to drain away any possibility of hope and excitement from government, so that the disengaged Democratic voters remain disengaged in 2016…

All the foregoing brings us to two conclusions, both of them disquieting. The first is that Democrats stand almost no visible prospect of attaining a government majority. The structural advantages undergirding Republican control of both chambers of Congress are so imposing that only extraordinary circumstances could overwhelm them. Democrats managed, briefly, to gain control of Congress when the catastrophe of the Bush presidency created two successive national wave elections in their favor.

Only that sort of freakish event would suffice. And Democrats might notice that, since winning back Congress requires a backlash against the president, their “positive” scenario requires first surrendering to Republicans’ total control of government. As long as Democrats hold the White House, Republican control of Congress is probably safe — at least for several election cycles to come.

The second conclusion is simpler, and more bracing: Hillary Clinton is the only thing standing between a Republican Party even more radical than George W. Bush’s version and unfettered control of American government.

This is a truly impressive bit of spiral thinking. During the previous two years, gridlock was bad. For the next two years, it’s bad that the GOP still wants to create gridlock to avoid taking responsibility for governing, but we need to let them continue gridlock to avoid having people get excited about them. Oh… and we just need to wait for Hillary.

Chait has recognized the importance of at least looking like you’re getting something done, even when significant accomplishments are scarce. I said it yesterday and I’ll say it again today. The gridlock dunce hat must be taken off of McConnell’s head and placed on Obama’s. Strike fast with a few quick items which might get through (start with Keystone) and then pass a series of bills designed to fix actual problems. Let Obama sign them or veto them. In terms of 2016 it honestly doesn’t matter which. If he signs them into law you have the chance to test drive your theories and show the voters that you can set things to rights. If it’s the veto pen, then you’ve done your job and it’s the White House who is blocking the lanes.

Chait recognizes that the Democrats’ best hope is to try to continue with business as usual as if nothing changed on Tuesday. That’s the one option they must not be allowed to use.