Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Fla.) today left open the possibility of one day running for office again despite being defeated by an 18-point margin last week.

“It’s too early to say,” Grayson said on ABC News’ online show “Top Line.”

“But I do understand that the voters have decided to give someone else a chance for a while, and I’m going to have to find another way to be useful.”  

Grayson, who became a hero to progressives over the last year for speaking frankly about his liberal views, noted the 100,000 contributions to his campaign and the “enormous base of volunteers.”

“These are things I don’t want to waste. I don’t want that to atrophy,” he said.  

Two years after defeating Republican Rep. Ric Keller for the Orlando-area 8th district seat, Grayson was swiftly knocked out by Daniel Webster, a former state Speaker and state Senate Majority Leader.  

The most publicized moment of the campaign was a widely panned TV ad Grayson ran against Webster, in which he accused the Republican of trying to take away women’s rights and called him “Taliban Dan.” (It’s on our list of the most memorable ads of the 2010 cycle. Watch.)

Grayson defended the ad and said it wasn’t the reason he lost along with nearly 50 other Democratic incumbents.  

“What happened last week is that Democratic voters didn’t vote,” Grayson said. “It wasn’t a situation where Democrats decided to vote for Republican candidates. It was a situation where Democrats decided to stay home.”  

Asked about Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Grayson said she was excellent in leading the Democrats in the majority and remains the best person to head the party again in the minority.  

“I don’t think Nancy Pelosi is responsible for what happened this past Tuesday,” Grayson said. “I can’t think of anyone else in contention for that job who would do a better job of making sure the Democrats are a cohesive, coherent whole that actually marches in the direction of progress and change.”