I'm bubbling over with a lot of little things that I wanted to write down -- none of them substantial enough for a single diary, but maybe all lumped together, they're an interesting read. (I guess I could have posted these as comments if I wanted to monopolize an open thread...)
Turning a landslide into an avalanche
- For the next two years, we'll hear from the screeching right-wing noise machine that everything that goes wrong from here on out is our fault. (Actually, haven't we been hearing that for the past six years, too?) We'll need to counter that. Democratic leaders need to be willing to call out media figures by name.
- We need to use our majorities to fix the problems with HAVA and at a minimum require voter-verified paper trails in all federal and state elections. (Bush may veto this -- and if he does, we need to hang the issue around his neck.)
- We also need to start the voter registration process early in blue precincts, "adopting" people who move into the precinct (and those turning 18) and then following up with them to keep them aware of the issues, and then make sure they vote.
Marriage Equality:
- The religious right is running out of opportunities to use constitutional amendments banning same-sex marriage as part of their GOTV scare-tactics. A majority of states have them now. Once the issue falls off the front burner, the tide will turn.
- In 1998, the combined vote against the proposed marriage amendments was only 30%; that number has increased every year (except one) these amendments have been proposed. The momentum is in our favor, despite the long way we have to go.
- After a Democratic president is sworn in in 2009, an effort should be made to repeal DOMA. Without a federal statute permitting states to refuse recognition of marriages performed in other states, wouldn't the "full faith and credit" clause of Article IV carry more weight in court?
- Snark: Maybe our tactics have been all wrong -- we're trying to reason with homophobes. Perhaps we should just scare them with ads saying, "Give us our marriage rights, or we'll give you the AIDS!"
Stem-Cell Research:
- For months, pundits on both sides of the aisle kept their eyes on the McCaskill-Talent race, marvelling not that it was close, but how consistently close it was. How much credit will the Michael J. Fox ad get for the victory, and to what extent will it put stem-cell research back on the front-burner?
Karen Carter, Ciro Rodriguez
- Two runoff elections for the House of Representatives will be held in December -- one in LA-02, and the other in TX-23. I'd love to see "our" candidates sweep both of these -- though I know they'll both be huge uphill battles.
- DavidNYC wrote about Karen Carter in this front-page post from yesterday, and Al Stanley wrote about Ciro Rodriguez here. Consider giving these worthy candidates some love.