I receive several daily emails from various Democratic outfits and candidates. My Senator, Barbara Boxer, is up for re-election this November. She wants money. My President, who is not up for re-election this November, wants me to contribute, too. Other Democrats I've given to in the past are emailing me. Not to mention the updates I get from my Congresswoman, Anna Eshoo, on the goings-on of Capitol Hill She's always up re-election, and she's never going to lose the Silicon Valley.
This election cycle, none of these folks will receive a funds from me, even though I've readily donated to my favorite candidates ever major election cycle since registering as a Democrat.
Diaries explaining why they aren't supporting the Democrats--or minimally withholding support until certain ultimata are met--aren't rare on dKos. It's a sign of the demoralized Democratic base. Coakley's defeat in MA MS was a symptom of that malaise.
Every trend consists of people and their own story. We might fit on a graph, but we aren't stereotyped so easily.
November 4, 2008 was a very important day. The nation elected the first African-American to the office of the Presidency. Lots of Democrats, including myself, donated to our favorite candidates and committees, determined to give the Democrats the people that they would need to wrest control of the nation's helm, right her course and steady her keel.
That day, in my little corner of the universe, my wife and I were nerve-racked, but not because we thought Obama would lose--our concerns were closer to home. She was undergoing an amniocentesis because the probability that our first child could have trisomy was too high not to risk it.
The results aren't instantaneous, but a two day wait isn't terrible. Of course we were on pins and needles. This was our child. Our first pregnancy. We'd been through a rather difficult time with infertility and we didn't think we could go through years of that again. We wanted this child badly, and we wanted her to be healthy.
While at my desk at work biting my nails and waiting for the phone call from the doctor--and trying to be happy for our nation--my boss took me aside. I was laid off. It wasn't even lunch time yet.
Hours later, the test results came back. Negative. But what should have been more good news multiplied my problems. I had a baby on the way, and I had no income.
Without going into too many details about the interceding time, my baby was born healthy and I never took another full-time job. I'm a stay-at-home dad now (who occasionally takes on part-time contract work). My wife works and we rely on her health insurance for all of us.
Still, We had given the Democrats control over all three branches of government. All three. At the same time. They were given a healthy majority in the House and an effective super majority in the Senate.
Today, I still don't have a job. The unemployment situation is worse than when I was laid off.
Today, health insurance for three is more expensive than it was on November 6, 2008.
And nothing has happened in the Congress that is going to fix either of these things.
ARRA was the last good thing, because thanks to it my wife still has a job. The President pushed hard for it. We're thankful for that. But I don't hear any mumblings about extending it. I don't hear any real solutions to the job crisis (unless you work at a TBTF(tm) bank). When handed the ball to fix our nation's healthcare--or at least start fixing our nation's healthcare--the dithering Democrats didn't just drop it, they gleefully put it in the mitts of the other side.
The Right has righteous anger. Though they're morally contemptible and their herd is a flock to be fleeced by more even more corrupt forces, at least they're motivated. But what do we have? I can't open my wallet anymore. Without money, my congresswoman and Senator (Senatrix?) will have to figure out some other way to get elected in November.
I have two brain-dead ideas: Jobs and Healthcare. Now. Americans will vote droves to support that.
I read Yglesias and Balloon Juice daily, and have great respect for their politics of the practical. As a father, I really appreciate baby steps. But....they don't have dependents. They have jobs and healthcare. Cheer-leading won't pass bills. This isn't about firing in on the circle. I'll vote for a Democrat in November, and I'd do it for purely practical reasons! If I had a steady job, I'd contribute to their campaign. If I had health security, I'd volunteer for their campaigns knowing my daughter was safe.
And so long as the Democrats--in Congress and those registered in the party--buy into the rightwing framing that it'll be a torrent against them in November, our malaise will prove a self-fulfilling prophecy. The Democrats in Congress are already circling the wagons, instead of getting out in front and fighting. But passing bills in Congress is the only way we're going to motivate the base.
I'm lucky, I know that. I have healthcare. I'm lucky. I have a daughter who depends on me for love and support. Oh look, it's raining, in California. Yes sweatheart, I'm coming, aren't the raindrops pretty...