The public loves a winner.
The MSM knows this and that is why they spin it into a loss.
This is what the whole Democrat party premise is, the republicans are loosers because they did not stick to their own values. They lost the test of the mirror.
I think our politicians deserve most of the blame, but you are right, the MSM was definitely one of the most harmful external factors. I really hate those guys, to quote Happy Gilmore. If not for the efforts of the media, we may have won, even with our many screwups.
Still, you're right that the public loves a winner - I think decisveness in Iraq could have made our guys irresistible at the polls. Add to that the issues of illegal immigration, massive spending on pork, and the abandonment of conservative principles, and its easy to see that the Republicans completely screwed the pooch.
As an aside, the Kelo decision was another opportunity squandered. Why in God's name didn't our guys make a cause out of that on the national level? I know the USSC word is final, but taking a moral stand on Kelo would have been a sure winner. Having Bush give a lame speech on it months after the fact doesn't cut it. We are left with the feeling that our guys are in the pockets of developers or something.