After I stop being so fucking pissed at the gob-stopping stupidity of the American electorate, I will try to offer my opinion on what happened.
OK, I can breathe again.
What happened? On one level a fairly ordinary midterm election. This time the pundits were right. An relatively unpopular lame duck president lost seats for his party, and there was a substantial drop off in Democratic participation.
But we had higher hopes for this election. We had several incumbents that we thought had a chance to buck the tide and win a second term. We had the Bannock Street Project, a substantial investment in turnout which would help bring out the apathetic voter. We had building rage against the attempts by the plutocrats to restrict our right to vote. WE had an improving economy, and dropping unemployment. We had several attractive candidates for state wide offices who were facing unpopular opponents.
But it didn’t happen. With several races we kept it close, but we couldn't hold on, and in other races we weren't competitive.
Now we need to ask why. And in asking why we need to find solutions, and solutions that are consistent with our values as Democrats.
First of all, we were out spent, particularly in the last 3 weeks of the election. A tidal wave of dark money poured over the landscape drowning everyone in its path. There seems to be little doubt that this was Koch money, and it worked. And when I say it worked, I mean not that it changed everyone’s mind, or that it turned a clear Democratic victory into a Republican rout, but that it injected enough doubt and motivation to turn a close win into a close loss.
Second, fear works. The Republicans had a simple message, which Jon Stewart aptly summarized: OMG VOTE FOR US OR YOU WILL BE BEHEADED AND POOP BLOOD. Any other message seemed like weak tea to the rattled electorate.
Third, there is a certain portion of the voting public that likes assholes. This is how Paul LePage, and Greg Abbott were able to win; LePage by bullying a nurse, and Abbott-well, by being Abbott.
Fourth, we had candidates in several elections who, for lack of a better word, fucked up. There was Bruce Braley who apparently slept through much of the campaign, and failed to take Joni Ernst seriously until it was too late. Even more frustratingly we had an excellent candidate in Alison Lundergan Grimes, who was facing perhaps the most disliked man in Kentucky, who through stubbornness and political cowardice managed to make him appear the stronger one. This would have been forgivable except that everyone was screaming in her ear that it wasn’t working, and she refused to listen.
There may have been dozens of other local factors which played into various races, bad luck, or just plain orneriness that could not be overcome, but I will leave those to others.
Now what do we do? I suggest we resist the urge to hurt ourselves, or give in to despair. We will have 2 sucky years to live through, but we have done it before.
We need to look at what worked, what almost worked and what didn’t work.
We need to start looking at what we can do, and what we can’t do.
The can’t do list seems easier, because it is filled with great ideas that have zero chance of being enacted.We will not have Election Day as a national holiday, or mandatory registration or voting, because the powers above (mostly republican) will not stand for them. Lots of other sensible ideas will either go nowhere or be cut back because of voter suppression. We will have to fight the GOP's attempts to widen the scope of vote suppression. We will have to be content with playing at the edges for now, and improving where we can.
What can we do? First, we can hope. 2016 is a presidential election year, and we have strong possible candidates. This alone will bring out people. The Senate map of 2016 is the polar opposite of 2014, with 24 republicans running in blue territory. We don't have to be afraid of the future
Second, we must continue to organize. We must look at the turnout machine that we built and see where it failed and where it succeeded, and build from there. We must return to the 50 state strategy of Howard Dean, which gave us victories at all levels before. We have to bring new blood into the state houses, and the local communities, at at time when it may seem pointless.
WE will need to recruit candidates, and support them. A year like this one can be soul-crushing, and discouraging, but we can do it.
Finally we need to not be afraid. We cannot be afraid to be Democrats, because the voters will see through it . I am convinced that the moment she refused to say whether or not she voted for Obama, Alison Grimes lost the election. No one was fooled, and she looked pusillanimous, and weak. We cant run away from our values as well. In the same election that David Pryor was getting pasted, the minimum wage increase was passed.
There it is. I said my piece. I hope I have made a meaningful contribution. Now everyone slowly back away from the ledge.