It didn't last. The glow of retaining the White House, adding 2 to the Democratic Senate Majority and gaining 8 or so seats in the House not withstanding; we are returning to the status quo.
I'm still stoked despite being distracted and not able to help much, I did get over to a polling station last Tuesday and handed out a lot of brochures. Not all of Florida was a voter's hell. My polling station had 2 precincts that had a line wait of less than 10 minutes. I guess that a well run polling station of little wait doesn't make for exciting news. There's no doubt in my mind that the Miami election supervisor is no Dr. Brenda Snipes (Broward's Election Supervisor, an ex-elementary school principal) who took over from a disgraced predecessor. Miami needs to find their Brenda Snipes.
The excitement of last week's win is still with us.
We need to keep our excitement growing.
We need to build on it and not let it dissipate. I was listening to the talking heads this morning and the Republican strategy is to retake the leads we gained in the 2012 election in 2014. The idea is that the casual voter of 2012 will not return to vote in 2014. The idea is that the Obama For America voter turn out machine will not be in play in 2014. The idea is that the DNC will not come out and play effectively for 2014; that the Democratic ground game will be dismantled and won't exist 2 years from now. That sounds fairly cynical to me, but there is probably a lot of truth to these assertions.
We can't bask in the afterglow of a win for a week? The short answer is no. I believe the RNC met last Wednesday to strategize how they were going to react to their loss last week. They may be in disarray now, but they'll have their act together soon. We need to not only hang on to what we have, but and build on it too.
When do we stop?
When the GOP Throws Grover Norquist Under the Bus.
And, even then, we should keep going.
Should we stop once the GOP comes around to revenue increases translating into tax increases on the wealthy?
No. I have a whole list of goals:
When the GOP agrees that women know best what birth control method is best for them.
When the GOP agrees that birth control is an essential part of preventive medicine.
When the GOP agrees that women are the best arbiters of what happens to their bodies.
When the GOP agrees that marriage equality is a civil right.
When the GOP accepts brown and black people instead of simply courting their votes.
When the GOP agrees to the idea that climate change is seriously screwing up our environment.
When the GOP accepts the idea of coexistence.
When the GOP agrees that freedom of religion applies to all religions.
When the GOP agrees that freedom religion means freedom FROM religion, too.
When the GOP agrees to the idea that health care is a right not a privilege.
When the GOP accepts the idea that labor unions are not the enemy.
When the GOP agrees to the idea that teachers are the tools to successful education, not the impediment.
When the GOP agrees that trickle down doesn't work.
When the GOP agrees we can't privatize Social Security.
This list is just the beginning. These are goals I know the current GOP will never agree to. That's my point. We've got work to do.
______
Little UPDATE: added to the list courtesy of SilverWillow.