The inevitable caveat.

Or, if not caveat, a possible flash of silver lining - Ezra Klein has made the very reasonable observation that calamitous financial news at least improves the political leverage of people who have useful and necessary changes in mind, and more power to him for having done so.

Obviously, though, the caveat to the caveat is that the Republicans in Congress are, by and large, far more radicalized than they were in the immediate aftermath of Clinton's election (the Gingrich hordes didn't arrive at their Contract and sweep into office until `94, IIRC). Worse still, the Democratic leadership is in some cases pretty heavily insulated from the pain, and far more respectful of the institutional roadblocks available to the minority party than it probably should be. Leverage is only meaningful insofar as it's actually utilized.