Mike Konczal makes a great point about the value of losing well in the financial regulatory reform fight and setting the table for future fights and wins. The whole post is worth a read, especially in contrast to his critique of how the administration has lost some fights poorly. But this conclusion stands out in its inspirational qualities:

Is the final financial reform bill perfect? No. Is it stronger because of these items? Yes. And what I value the most is that the coalition of financial experts who have a stronger vision of how regulation should work in the financial sector is much more organized that before this crisis hit. We’ll continue to build them for the future, and I hope you’ll help us any way you can.