When I was a young Weezle, there was a bumper sticker that read "What If They Had A War And Nobody Showed Up?" The idea behind the slogan was to point out the moral and political emptiness of the war in Vietnam.
Last week, more than 150,000,000 Americans did not vote. Did they refrain from voting out of laziness and apathy? Were they all busy working at Wal-Mart and Wendy's? Or did two-thirds of the American electorate stay home because they recognized that the political process in the United States is a sucker's game, devoid of substance and meaning?
The pundits and columnists all seem to have their theories: people were turned off by negative campaigning, turned away at the voting booth, or turned around by misleading ads. But one thing--actually, several things--stand out in an otherwise depressing election cycle: Democratic candidates lost, but progressive issues won.
Let me say it again: Democratic candidates lost, but progressive issues won.
Case in point: anti-choice "personhood" amendments were shot down in some of the most conservative states in the Union. In 14 states that had "personhood" initiatives on the ballot, not one passed.
In California, Reagan/Bush I-era "three strikes" laws were resoundingly rejected. Tens of thousands of prisoners who were unjustly sentenced for petty crimes like shoplifting. vagrancy, and drug possession can now appeal their sentences and perhaps look forward to a new life as dues-paying members of the community.
In Alaska, Oregon and Washington, DC, marijuana legalization was passed with undeniable majority support. In the two most influential counties in New Mexico, a non-binding advisory ballot issue supporting the legalization of marijuana was passed, with high hopes for a binding vote in 2016.
What can we learn from all this? It's simple: America is a progressive nation; all it lacks is a slate of progressive candidates. Look at the nationwide support for progressive candidates like Wendy Davis and Elizabeth Warren and Al Franken and Bernie Sanders. In an election in which many progressives didn't even bother to get out of bed, progressive issues did well. This is a good indication that even conservative and middle-of-the-road voters can be convinced to support so-called "liberal" causes--provided those causes are divorced from their usual tribal labels.
The other lesson that we can take from this is that the Left can no longer support the dead weight of wishy-washy Blue Dogs and Third Way candidates. Yes, the Koch brothers have more cash between them than most anybody in the country combined, but we don't have to concede defeat just because we're outweighed. If the Democratic party wants to win in 2016, they should learn from this latest defeat.
As the president said in 2010, "We got shellacked". And we got "shellacked" because we have not learned that progressive candidates motivate progressive voters. Ho-hum candidates only motivate the opposition. Or as Jim Hightower put it: "The only thing in the middle of the road is yellow stripes and dead armadillos."