WASHINGTON -- The exchange of five Guantanamo detainees for the release of Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl has reminded us of three unpleasant facts of life:

The United States does negotiate with terrorists; the president will circumvent laws as circumstances require; Republicans and Democrats will be summarily outraged as party affiliations seem to require.

Last week I set out a 2016 nightmare scenario for Republicans -- not one that seems likely, but one that can be extrapolated from current polling.

In that spirit, let me set out a 2016 nightmare scenario for Democrats -- again, not likely but a plausible extrapolation.

It probably pained Peter Schorsch to say it, but his observation in a Sunday blog about why Rick Scott has overtaken Charlie Crist in the latest polls is so direct, so simple, so spot-on it's like the SaintPetersBlog guru threw a can of paint in my face.

How right he is.