The bad news is that the Democrats took some solid punches in the midterm elections; the good news is that the injuries aren't life threatening.
There was significant voter turnout, especially for midterm elections, but the numbers weren't as good in some states as in 2006. I've been reading blog posts, mostly from the young folks--the 35 and under crowd--which called for showing the Democrats their displeasure by not voting. A lot of these calls for desertion of the Democrats came from young African-Americans and Latinos who have decided that President Obama has betrayed them. They have all the impatience of youth and and want everything yesterday.
One young blogger refers to Obama as the Changeling, the mythical creature from the fairy tale who replaces the human child and has evil intent on the unsuspecting family. It's an interesting but inaccurate metaphor.
In order to make a statement to Obama about his imagined betrayal and to teach the Democrats not to take them for granted, there were a number of folks who advocated not voting at all. I'll try and remember to ask them in about two years how that "I'll show those Democrats" thing has worked out for them.
In the meantime, the Democrats have a few moments of glory from Tuesday night. It appears that reason prevailed and Chris Coons defeated "I am not a witch" Christine O'Donnell in Delaware. Harry Reid pulled the rabbit out of the hat and managed to wrestle a win away from mad hatter Sharron Angle. Blumenthal out wrestled Linda McMahon in Connecticut. Jerry Brown is back as governor of California and Barbara Boxer managed to hold on to her senate seat. (Click for NY Times' Election Results)
There are a lot of serious bruises. Republicans have gained 60 seats giving them control of the House with a possibility of gaining four more when all the counting is done. In comparison, the Republicans gained 54 House seats in 1994 (Clinton administration). In 1946, the Republicans gained 56 House seats and in 1938 a record 80 House seats.
However, although the Republicans gained Senate seats, the Democrats continue to control the Senate and Harry Reid still holds his position of power in the Senate.
Two states were still too close to call as of 6:30 a.m. --Colorado and the state of Washington. In Alaska, it appears that the write in candidate has the most votes. The only candidate running as a write in candidate was Murkowski, but Alaska has some law that prohibits identifying the write in candidate until the ballots are counted. Of course, Murkowski has been all over the news thanking her supporters. Go figure!
I read a comment on Facebook by a 35-year-old who declared that all was lost and that we (progressives) were done and may as well accept that there is no hope. I'm far from Pollyanna but I think that's pretty extreme. Unless you're planning on dying today, how can anyone be done? It's an election and there will be other elections. The political scene changes like the wind; you never know which way it's going to blow.
The Republicans cannot do most of the things that they touted in their campaigns; even if they get legislation through the House, they still have to get the necessary Senate votes. If they succeed in getting it through the Senate to the president's desk, he can veto it. They can override his veto if they can get enough votes (a 2/3 vote in each chamber) to do so in both the House and the Senate. If they adjourn before the president decides to sign or not to sign, then the president has effectively killed the legislation with a pocket veto. Isn't politics fun?
What does their win mean? Probably a lot of deadlock where nothing much gets done and what is accomplished is done very slowly. In other words, business as usual.
P.S. Don't worry about the Republican threat to repeal the Health Care bill. I doubt that they want to tell the American public that they've decided to allow the insurance companies to end coverage for all those newly insured folks with preexisting conditions and are taking away grandma and grandpa's Medicare donut hole benefits.
Sheria,
ReplyDeleteAll the Republicans have to do is get Ben Nelson and or Joe Lieberman to switch parties and or caucus with the Republicans and the Democrats have lost their majority in the Senate.
For all practical purposes the Republicans have gained control of both the house and the senate.
One thing progressives need to do is quit being so romantic...the reality is these young people represent an unorganized and yet undeveloped "Tea Party' like movement on the left.
Its time to quit lying to ourselves, there is no left, their is no liberal, and their is no progressive movement in this country. That is a myth that was based upon the left over energy from the 1960's.
You want to argue that the glass is half empty and claim that the youth of today are arguing that the glass is half full...
That is not true. The progressives of today have become apologists and find comfort in the fact that they represent a counter balance to the right.
Which is true, but to younger Americans progressives appear as nothing more than "six of one and a half dozen of the other" inregards to a discussion of the left vs. the right.
The power behind the democratic base today is still fighting for equality and all the issues from the 60's...young people today think all of that belongs on a History Channel documentary.
Until you talk about a future that addresses the concerns of the youth of today the liberals of today will appear as nothing more than historically interesting mummies of past battles and visions but totally irrelevant to today's concerns.
Progressivism is an irrelevant concept to most people today with its focus on race, sexism, sexual preference, and such....those were the issues of yesterday.
Until Progressives find the issues that are important to the young and pertain to their concerns of the future then liberalism is an irrelevant concept and something you write research papers on for history class.
Oh the naivete of youth - to think that not voting will send a message. It won't. It will just seem like "apathetic usual" in American politics.
ReplyDeleteThough not all "youths" were so apathetic. I happen to be "friends" with a number of "youths" on FB - and many of them were chanting "vote" yesterday - which I was pleased to see.
And -
ReplyDeleteI believe DeMint of SC is referring to this as an "earthquake" victory - um, yeah. The man needs to study up on the history of American politics and its 2 year political pendulum swing. Earthquakes are largely unpredictable - America's political pendulum is not - sadly.
Although the GOP won a outsized victory, Apocalypstick Palin came out a clear loser. Most of her candidates lost, and the few that won (such as Nikki Haley) did not need her endorsement. The Murkowski write-in is a stunning defeat for Palin on home turf; and I believe her standing within the GOP has been seriously compromised.
ReplyDeleteThe ever ending quest for sunshine...
ReplyDeleteYes, Palin was downsized but don't forget Paul and Rubico, and the Palin/Tea Party click that has been established in the House.
Actually, not voting is a statement. The Democrats offered a compelling platform and promise in 2008 and that was attrractive to a broad market of voters....
Politics has always been about being attractive to middle age and old voters because they came to the polls...and look at where that got us.
If you look at the voting data in Europe, they have high participation from younger voters and they have more parties and are more socialist.
The future belongs to the youth, the youth also represent the conscious of a country.
Progressivism is about the future and it is about change....that is youth. Middle age is about security and the status quo. As long as the youth of this country feel alienated from the political system progressivism and liberalism are dead.
Until the youth believe in a cause or ideal and until they feel represented they will sit on the sidelines....and we become relics...
That is exactly what we are...relics, clinging to outmoded ideals and justifying our own irrelevancy.
Congratulations, Florida Zoners, on electing for governor Rick Scott, who presided over the largest (until a couple of weeks ago) Medicare fraud in American history.
ReplyDeleteWhile I don't believe these election results are apocalypse or anything close to it -- more like business as usual -- when people vote criminals into office, one must ask,
WTF?!
Elizabeth,
ReplyDeleteMolly Ivins said the following - I believe it applies equally to a number of states:
"In Texas, we do not hold high expectations for the [governor's] office; it's mostly been occupied by crooks, dorks and the comatose. "
The real significance of this election is showing the Pandora's Box opened by the SCOTUS in their decision concerning corporations.
ReplyDeleteMillions of dollars were thrown out there to skew this election by corporate dummy groups. We are now bought and paid for by Corporate Amerika.
And now also by felons.
ReplyDeleteSheria,
ReplyDeleteThanks -- I think your analysis is on the mark. The House gains were pretty big and there were genuine losses in the Senate (Russ Feingold in particular -- but he will find good things to do outside the Senate), but when we look at the entire picture, Democrats dodged a bullet Tuesday. The previous Congress did significant legislating that alienated and confused some (and let's face it, some people are easy to alienate and confuse), and faced an uphill fight thanks to the terrible economy. They still control the presidency and one chamber of Congress. That's not so bad for a mid-term election.
Tao,
I think your view is unnecessarily gloomy -- the results indicate nothing even remotely resembling a permanent realignment or shift in voter sentiment. All they mean, in my view, is that many people are angry, ignorant, and confused. When ignorant and confused people get angry, they do foolish things such as vote against their own interests, tune out altogether (and they ARE busy and harried, to be fair), or stay home, thinking their inactivity somehow translates into a noble protest against the powers that be.
In essence, the Republicans -- cruel, cynical, dishonest bastards that so many of them are and always have been -- are good at turning the fully employed but anxious part of the electorate against those who are already suffering most in a bad economy. People vote their wallets, and when the economy goes south, things get ugly real fast. But let's not make more of that frustration than it is. If the economy comes around, a couple of years from now Democrats (including progressives) should do just fine, and if it doesn't, well, we will all be in serious hot water anyway, party affiliations aside.
We know that republics, like people, are mortal -- but we must learn to remain optimists and do our living and politicking in the shadow of death. As Victor Hugo said, "Les hommes sont tous condamnés à mort avec des surcis indéfinis" -- all men are condemned to die, with an indefinite reprieve. I guess the same goes for democracies.
Out here in gorgeous Californ-I-A, I'm channeling a bit of Anita Bryant for you gloomy easterners and droopy southerners: "Thank you Jesus for the sunshine today!" I mean, we did okay out here: Democrats won just about everything right on down to county dogcatcher, except in those districts that always vote conservative anyway. Boxer stays in the Senate, and we get to say, "Governor Brown" again.
And then there's always Mo Udall's priceless blurt-out (I think it was Mo Udall after an unsuccessful presidential bid),
ReplyDelete"The American People have spoken -- the bastards!"
I love that one, especially because politicians' victory or concession speeches are always so filled with false humility and sanctimonious references to that mysterious quintessence of patriot-dust, "the Will of the American People."
I'm not feeling great about the election, but I'm also not as despondent as I was after Kerry's defeat in 2004. I was almost comatose for 3 days.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the commenter who observed that during stressful economic times the electorate will not act rationally and will vote against their self-interest.
On another note: The job numbers for October were good. Not great, but not terrible either. The economy is on everyone's mind.
Now let's see how Boehner will deliver on his promise of jobs, jobs, jobs.
They own this economy now, too.
You need to step back from the emotionalism of the moment and look at the facts...
ReplyDeleteThis vote was actually a vote of confidence...and the American people have expressed the belief that government does not work and does not care about their problems.
To the vast majority of Americans the democrats don't appear to be all that much different than the Republicans. If 85% of the American people blame bankers and the republicans/bush for the current financial mess and recession and guess what, they are not wrong, then the democrats failed to offer an alternative or to even establish the fact that they are different.
Obama failed because he was elected to office as a Progressive, and while he accomplished alot he failed to establish a new direction but rather compromised with the powers that be....that may not have been his fault and actually may be the fault of the democrats in congress.
48% of Americans believe healthcare reform should be reversed and 48% of Americans believe that it is okay or that it did not go far enough.
Financial reform...again, didn't go far enough.
Americans had hope that things would change but they did not and there is not one single person who has commented on this blog can say that they are satisfied with the last two years.
How many people vote only because it has become a habit or a tradition? We are a country that has a political system that alienates more people than it satisfies.
What happens when you have an election and no one shows up? Look at DADT...the majority of Americans and the majority of the service members believe it should be repealed and it has not been. Why? What powers are keeping our government from acting upon the wishes of the majority and doing the right thing?
There is anger among the citizens and it has nothing to do with ignorance....great crimes were committed and no one has been punished. Nothing has been investigated and no one held accountable.
THAT is where the Americans are smarter than all the educated liberals could ever be....
Heads should have rolled criminals prosecuted...not only for the financial meltdown but also the Iraq War and the issue of torture, and on the issue of spying on our own citizens.
But the democrats protected and defended the system and maintained it....and that is why you could not entice enough young people to vote for you again, that is why their is an enthusiaism gap...
Remember, this is a democracy, and every two years the unwashed, the unruly, and the uneducated get to vote and become important for awhile...
They spoke and the democrats lost. FDR understood that he had a very short window of opportunity and he maximized it. The mistake now was that the democrats thought that with a few tweaks they could then get on with business as usual.
You have to respect the republicans for their strategy...there is no way they should be off the carpet as soon after the financial meltdown as they have been...but don't assume that it is because Americans are ignorant or irrational because of fear...
You need to ask yourself, if as supporters of the democratic party what did your party do to lose this one? You missed the boat...
The vote last night was not for the repbulicans but actually a vote against government totally...
THAT is the part that worries me! Americans want government to do things and to fix problems....and what Americans said last night was neither of the two parties gives a damn about them...
That has some serious long term repercusations...
I just want to go hide.
ReplyDeleteTao,
ReplyDeleteSounds to me as if what you want is not only remarkable and sweeping progress but the alignment of a vast, enlightened majority with that goal and with the concept that "government works." That is pure idealism, which is better than cynicism -- but since when, I ask anyone and everyone, have things ever worked that way? People have pretty much always grumbled about "gummint," with greater or lesser intensity. Progress is usually slow and painful, something that happens over decades and by successive approximations. I don't like it that that's the case, but it sure seems to be.
I think you fall into Republican hands with all this talk about liberal elite eggheads not understanding this or that. We understand plenty, but don't have unlimited power to convince all the benighted, grumbling ignoramuses out there to take the long view historically. If they didn't do it in ancient Greece, they sure as hell aren't going to do it here.
But I'll agree with you on one thing -- the Dems haven't done what they needed to do in the area of financial reform, haven't been bold. And I think ordinary people really wanted them to be as thorough as possible there -- it's a populist issue. The big failures we have seen in finance might well happen again, and I think everybody senses it and is uneasy.
I've always liked JFK's sentiments about the Democratic Party -- didn't he describe it as a long, deep river? You know there will be obstructions, choppy places, etc., but the hope is always that in the long run, things will flow our way, the people will benefit, and the turn-back-the-clocksters will ultimately cede to genuine progress, however grudgingly.
All I am taking away from this midterm is two words:
ReplyDeleteGridlock and Veto
The folks from Nutter U will never get the amount of votes needed to overturn any of The Big O's veto's.
Dino...
ReplyDeleteNo, I don't fall in Republican hands...
More and more of our country is falling behind and being made to make due with less and less. The distance between the average American and the leaders of the democratic party has reached a point of no return.
The reality is that this country cannot move forward, has not moved forward, and will not move forward with the financial/political system it currently has today. You are boxed in and have no where to go.
If you feel powerless within the box then eventually you seek solutions that fall outside the box....
Whether you believe it or not the reality is that we are experiencing a total meltdown of our social structure and the social contract. This is not occuring from the bottom or from the outside but it is ocurring from within and from the top.
For government to be a positive force it has to quit rewarding the "evildoers" and the Democrats, especially the rank and file, always believe that the Democrats represented the interests of the little guy...and Barack Obama claimed the same thing.
Now its obvious that the democrats spend as much time hobnobing with the powers that be as the republicans do....where once the republicans were seen as the country club set now truthfully our whole political system is seen that way.
The government can move mountains and act overnight to bail out Wall Street and backdate laws to cover up the foreclosure disaster...but healthcare reform takes till 2014.....
A consumer protection position will never be filled but a Treasury Secretary with a pedigree that is pleasing to Goldman Sachs can be appointed overnight.
...and a president and a congress of the same majority party cannot find the will to overcome that? So, why do you expect the people to find the will to support that party?
You also have to deal with the fact that redistricting begins next year and the republicans control more governorships....that will effect the democrats for the next 10 years...
It was probably too late even in 2008 but the reality is what little opportunity that did exist has now been wasted...
That leaves the liberals, race, sex, abortion, and the environment to differente themselves from the repbulicans.....looks like two peas in a pod to me...
This is roughly the tenth 'complete destruction of the Democratic party' I've experienced since my voting career began in 1970.
ReplyDeleteArthur, big difference between the Democratic Party and "Liberalism/Progressivism" one has been dead since around 1970 and the other just keeps morphing its self into special interests lite version...
ReplyDeleteSo now you have a government that does not know how to govern and a people who have no idea what the social contract is all about...
So, you got people screaming about socialized medicine in one breath and then don't touch my medicare in another.
...and everyone believing that the wealthy create jobs but only if they are not taxed.....
I live in Kentucky which is the bastion of conservatism...and the majority of people believe that healthcare reform did not go far enough, will not benefit them, and was only enacted to benefit insurance companies...
So, they vote republican for lower taxes because they can't figure out why they should fund something that does not benefit them...
Gawd damn iffin you ain't right ArthurStone.
ReplyDeleteDems are like your best friend who always finds a new drug to abuse, and you want to smack the shit out of her/him every friggin time.
Tao,
ReplyDeleteIf "liberalism/progressivism" is "dead," in all seriousness what's the point in talking about it? It's useless talking about things one can't change, no? But there are plenty of liberal Americans, even if coexisting with different factions of the Democratic Party isn't always satisfying. I suggest that Arthurstone is right. Rumors of the libs' demise are greatly and frequently exaggerated. Let's not pronounce ourselves goners just yet, and reach for the shovel. I've read too much Edgar Allen Poe to do that....
It's no surprise to me that we see eye-to-eye on this election. The task ahead is pretty clear: re-energize the folks who think they've been abandoned or discarded, educate those who think everything should happen yesterday, and help progressives understand that the President and his administration can do so much more for them with their support than they can accomplish with a voting moratorium.
ReplyDeleteWhether you believe it or not the reality is that we are experiencing a total meltdown of our social structure and the social contract.
ReplyDeleteOkay TAO, it's time to climb down off the cross. Sure this sucks but it isn't the first time that there has been a massive takeover of Congress by the Republicans--in 1938, 1946, and 1994 the increase in Republicans was as massive as in last night's debacle.
Clinton managed with a Republican COngress and even got himself re-elected. It's not an ideal situation but the world is not coming to an end.
I'm not a romantic; I'm a pragmatist. I worked as a professional lobbyist on the behalf of low-wealth students and their families for five years. I grew to know the workings of state government intimately in a southern legislature that functions on the good ole boy network. I've testified before the U.S. Civil Rights COmmission on the civil rights implications of NCLB. I've also testified at hearings on NCLB before the U.S. Department of Education. I have a pretty comprehensive view of the workings of government up close and personal. The view isn't pretty, never has been, but this is not some radical change; it's just business as usual.
All this crying is just not becoming. Why are you so hell bent on throwing in the towel? It's had enough to continue the fight without dealing with despair from our own.
It won't get better unless we do something to make it get better. Rolling over and conceding defeat is not the way to change things. If I sound angry, I am. I'm tired of hearing nothing but talk of gloom and doom from far too many progressives. It's an ugly world sometimes; shit happens. The question is are you going to help clean it up or just wallow in it?
Well, stepped on some toes here didn't I?
ReplyDeleteGOOD!
We use the term "Liberal" "Progressive" rather interchangeably but the reality is we are discussing Democrats. There is a huge difference.
Something happened over the last 40 years and democrats have become the party for everyone except lower income whites and lower educated whites.
Democrats are no longer the party for the little guy but rather the party for the same people that the Republicans appeal to except for those with a social conscience.
It seems the one thing that democrats cannot talk about is economics. Oh, they differ themselves on the discussion of abortion, sex, and race but when it comes to the economy they have no plan that makes them any different than the republicans.
Oh, democrats can chatter all the time about gays, women, blacks, racism, sexism, the environment, and on and on...but when it comes to anything regarding the economy or economic policy, tax policy, or an industrial policy....not a word is said.
Today the fed announced that they were buying more treasury bonds...that means that no one else wants them at the interest rate offered. That is a real bad sign.
Wall Street is taking the cheap money from the fed and investing it overseas and most likely creating the next bubble in developing country stocks.
Why can't a democrat say, if you want money cheap then invest it in the United States. The democrats have been hammered hard about TARP and the Stimulus and yet they could not stand up to Wall Street and they paid for that mistake yesterday.
Here is a link: http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2010/11/federal-reserve-policy-is-working-just.html
Democrats are nothing more than republicans with flowers in their hair.
Personally, I cannot defend democrats because as far as I am concerned they don't give a shit about me and I gave over $10,000 to Feingold, Obama, Greyson, and Conway this year.
Starting now my money goes to liberals and progressives...and if that means a Third Party then by God, if that is what it takes to get some real liberalism then that is worth paying and fighting for.
Cont'd:
ReplyDeleteI am sorry but I have not seen a progressive thing done in this country in the last 30 years but I do admire Barack Obama, but the reality is even he is too liberal for the democrats.
This country IS broke and what is most frightening is that we do not have the economic base to create jobs or grow our way out of our debt. Without that, everything that the democrats supposedly stand for does not matter because without money you cannot accomplish anything.
We are facing a critical problem with our entitlements and we have severely underestimated the cost of the long term care for our vets....
Yet we are getting our economy policy from Geitner and Summers...two people who were instrumental in the illogic that created the perfect storm we find ourselves in.
Study economics Sheria...look around at the world and realize that the countries that did not follow the "American Model" which the short list includes Canada, Germany, France, the Nordic Countries are all prospering in relative terms. The countries that followed the American Model which would include Spain, England, Ireland, and Greece, plus most of the Eastern European countries are struggling and that is putting it nicely.
The reality is that the stock market has recovered, the wealthy are forging ahead but almost half of Americans have fallen behind and will never catch up...if they don't drown.
You can argue that two years wasn't enough but the reality is the democrats have no plan so no length of time would have made a difference.
This country never recovered from the recession in 1993/94 but rather we masked it over with investment bubbles....
THAT is why I am pissed...liberals can talk about everything and believe that the American voter is stupid or that young people are wrong for not voting....
That is the old republican trick of blaming everyone else when things don't go your way....without an economic policy that draws a stark difference between liberals and republicans then the difference between democrats and republicans isn't much at all....
TAO, I don't disagree that there has been a colossal failure to address the economic inequities that are at the core of our system of free market capitalism. I think that a large base, living at or below poverty, is an essential part of capitalism, which is why I think that we need to overhaul the entire system. We actually should be paying higher taxes with those with higher incomes contributing more than those with lesser incomes. In exchange for those higher taxes, certain necessities such as health care should be provided to all regardless of income. The deal should also include access to adequate housing and necessary goods such as food should be priced within the affordability range of all. However, changes in the economic structure of this country are not going to take place by disengaging and bemoaning disappointing elections.
ReplyDeleteThe change that you speak of cannot happen if we're busy sitting in the dark bellowing about the lack of light. Somebody has got to work towards turning the lights on. This is no time for defeatism; it's a call to action.
By the way, among my many areas of study is economics and I would agree that the American economic system is broken beyond repair but replacing it is going to be an uphill battle and take a lot of work. We need to get busy and to me that means, I got no time to cry about what shoulda and coulda been.