Aside from the occasional stonewall stand that we can make in the Senate, we're going to have to come to terms with having very little say in national government for at least two years.
Fortunately, although we tend to forget it sometimes, the federal government is not the only place to influence public policy. In fact, I'd argue that for any given individual, it's not even the most important. This land was founded as a union of independent states, and those states still hold a large measure of power.
If there is to be hope for progressivism during the next two years, we may find it in the state houses.
(Sorry to abuse the old Clintonite phrase yet again, but it seemed appropriate...)
Herein we find the real lie in the whole "red state/blue state" nonsense. Minnesota went blue, North Carolina red. While both were in the long-shot swing state category, neither were really much in play. And yet Minnesota has a Republican in the Governor's mansion and the GOP in control of one of the two houses of the legislature, while North Carolina's Democrats routed the opposition for Governor, grabbed control of one house of the legislature and extended their control in the other.
To be sure, the two parties in Minnesota look radically different than the two parties in North Carolina. Mike Easley, our newly re-elected governor, is anti-gay marriage and pro-death penalty. And yet, he's continued to increase funding for education, put an emphasis on pre-school for everyone, reduced class sizes in public schools across the state, and made real efforts on reducing the achievement gap among black students. These aren't empty victories -- these are real examples of progressive policies being put to work and the state benefiting. Furthermore, while the majority of the Democrats in the legislature are of the decidedly moderate variety, their majority means that the true progressives we send from Orange, Durham, Buncombe, and Mecklenburg counties have their day in the sun, rather than being buried in the back row of the minority party.
No question, it would be nice to have the levers of the federal government under our control. But Democrats made significant strides in many states on Nov 2, including many that turned red on the national map. That trend has a double benefit -- it not only gives us the ability to take up the slack where the administration lets it out on social, environmental, and fiscal issues, but also provides a strong foundation for rebuilding the party nationally. Our revitalized Democratic party must be built from the ground-up, not the top down. (Going from the top down is why the Green party, once a promising movement, is now relevant in very few places.)
And for those of you looking for ways to take out your frustrations over the results of the election, consider getting involved locally. If you've got a Republican holding down the seat, organize a true progressive opponent, even if it's a long shot. You never know, you just might win. If you've got a progressive Democrat in there, make sure he or she stays there -- we need those voices more than ever before. If you've got a DINO holding down the seat, consider a primary challenge. And if you've got an open seat, well, you know what to do...