With the euphoria on the left, and the dejection on the right being at their peaks right now, It will be real easy to lose sight of what really happened in the 2012 elections. This year, a handful of billionaires basically tried to buy the presidency of the United States of America and all the power enshrined in it. The fact that they did not succeed (and the resulting cartwheels being performed on live T.V. by the clown who tried to orchestrate that take over) does not minimize the danger of what almost happened.
Does anyone believe that Sheldon Adelson will give almost $60 million to a political party and its super PACs ( and that figure does not include any money given to the PACs who can keep their donors secret) or that Koch brothers will give similar amounts to that party without expecting anything back if that party were to win the White House? How much was Adelson going to get back in the form of tax cuts over the next 10 years, if Romney had won? How about Koch brothers?
The fact that these people were not successful is a tribute to the core principals of a president who genuinely cares for the lives of the average men and women of this country as well as the absolute brilliance of the people who ran his re-election campaign. However, that does not change the fact of how close this country came to being ruled by a government bought by a handful of people. This is not the democracy that our founding fathers intended. This is the type of democracy that a mostly republican Supreme Court imposed on us through its Citizen United decision.
These people will be back. They are not the types that will leave without a good return on their investment. They will find someone who is more artful at lying and more adept at deception than the clown with the melt down on live T.V. on election night. They will come back during the mid-term elections when the progressives often hibernate. They will go after state legislatures and get them to come up with even more restrictive voting laws. They will come up with more innovative ways to suppress the people's vote. They will find another etch-a-sketch straw man in the next cycle (this time without Romney's extensive Bain baggage.) As long as there is no meaningful campaign finance reform, they will continue their effort to control this country's highest public office in order to serve their financial interests.
The left should not celebrate too much now. The danger has not passed. Instead, the debate for campaign finance reform should be moved to front and center.
