Early Tuesday evening, the crew over at MSNBC was optimistic and giddy. Chris Matthews even told fellow host Ed Schultz, after Schultz delivered a passionate prediction that Wis. Gov. Walker was “on the ropes,” that he could be president of the AFL-CIO union. But by the time Schultz took to the air for his regular TV program, the recall election had already been called for the governor, and Schultz was dejected. And then he delivered a sad eulogy.

“This is not going to be an easy night for many broadcasters who are liberal,” he said during his show open. “This is not going to be an easy night for this broadcaster. To say that I’m shocked and stunned is pretty much an understatement.”

He also didn’t seem to have a great outlook for 2012: “It is going to take an insurmountable amount of effort on the ground for the progressive movement and the Democrats to do what they need to do in 2012.”

Of course, he also needed a scapegoat, so he blamed Citizens United and money in politics:

But I also think that it is a real warning to Americans that money is now infiltrated into our political system like we have never seen before, and the ruling by Citizens United is now a real message to every American.

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And this is also a real message to local politics that this money will filter down, and Citizens United will affect federal and state elections over time.

He also admitted that if this is a template for November, “I believe it’s some pretty damn scary stuff.”

Watch his monologue below: