Good! Because we have important work ahead of us.
Wimps, sissies, fair-weather kossacks -- permit me to show you the exit.
I’m an Oakland Raiders fan. Don’t talk to me about "misery" and "futility". The other day, on SBNation, Kos’ other site, I saw a guy asking “Is it time for the paper bags yet?” Immediately he was hit with a wave of opprobrium, “WE DON’T DO PAPER BAGS!”; “You’re a Raiders fan, have some damn pride!” and “I’ll break the legs of anyone I see at Alameda wearing a paper bag.”
I agree wholeheartedly with those sentiments. [1]
I still wear a Raiders jersey everywhere. My philosophy is “Four Championships and MORE TO COME.” I enjoy talking trash with division rivals. I enjoy the hate. I enjoy the insults. You know why? Because WE’RE WORTH IT.
We’ve been one of the most arrogant, violent, embittered, middle-finger waving franchises in history. We have EARNED the hatred.
I’d much rather cheer for a losing Oakland team than a winning Dallas Cowboys team. [2]
Which brings me to the Democrats and last Thursday.
If you’re a Liberal Democrat than SHOW SOME DAMN PRIDE! Yes, Tuesday was embarrassing. Yes, we have a Midterm Turnout Problem that badly needs fixing. Yes, the political winds were against us. Yes we have a lot of ground to regain. Yes, it’s awful having to watch Fox News and Rush Limbaugh self-fellate all week. [3] Bad news: they’ll continue to do so for a good long while.
I DON’T GIVE A SHIT. Now that you’ve had a few days to drown your sorrows it’s time to get back on your feet and realize that, as sucky as things are, they could be worse.
I have now been on DKos for 10 years, and remember the devastation of the 2004 Elections. If you do not remember those days, well…”Hopelessness” was too optimistic a word for how we were feeling back then. I mean, the lone bright spot was that Lupe Valdez -- lesbian and Hispanic, a daughter of migrant workers --was elected sheriff of Dallas county , a position she still holds, 10 years later. Now, not to crap on that achievement, or Ms. Valdez in any way, but that was it!! That was the top achievement for progressives in 2004!!
Grover "My mommy does NOT dress me funny!" Norquist boldly predicted that the Democratic Party was "toast" as early as September of 2004. September!
The modern Democratic Party cannot survive the reelection of President George W. Bush and another four years of Republican control of both Congress and the White House.
No brag. Just fact.
Yeah Grover? Say hi to November 2006, there's a "fact" for ya.
So we need to chin up , dust ourselves off, and get ready for 2016.
Takeaways:
THERE WAS LITTLE THAT COULD BE DONE TO FORESTALL THIS OUTCOME
We were supposed to lose the Senate in 2012, remember?? Our near escape, may have given some a feel of invicibility. But this was the year our luck ran out. The turnout was lower all around for this election. The Obama-Haters were ginned up. Too many purple states were up for grabs. I’ll speak more on this further down, but don’t listen to anybody – from either side of the aisle -- who says “well the Dems should have done THIS” or “the Dems should have done THAT”
Done what?!? Done more to improve the economy??
We had a better economy this year than in 2012!!! Obama beat Little Lord Fauntleroy even with the highly lackluster employment number of 7.7%!! It’s now 5.8!
On the opposite side, look at Kansas. The state has a huge budget shortfall and the blame lies DIRECTLY on the shoulders of Sam Brownback. The mood in Kansas, we were led to believe, was just short of culminating in thousands descending on the governor’s mansion with torches and rakes a la Frankenstein.
What happened? THEY RE-ELECTED HIM.
So much for, “It’s the economy, stupid!” Not this time. The majority of Kansasans said “eh, at least he’s not a Democrat.” And voted him back in. This was the Bizzaro Election.
How was challenger Paul Davis supposed to beat that kind of Red state stubbornness?? The answer is, he couldn’t. If you are determined to vote Solid “R” on your ballot, then you are going to vote Solid “R” on your ballot.
There is no negotiating with certain of our fellow citizens and Kansas proves it. There’s no appeasing them, and there's no crossing over to them. John Kerry failed to realize this in 2004, and Allison Grimes failed to realize it in 2014. [5] In many of these states the most motivated Republicans were determined to get out and they did, regardless of the harm they may end up doing to their state or the country.
Speaking of those people…
DON’T GET CAUGHT UP IN “THE AMERICAN PEOPLE HAVE SPOKEN” BULL
In 2006 and 2008, Republicans blamed their losses on “Not hewing to Conservative Values” and “Low Information Voters” and “The Unions” and so on.
This week however? “The American people spoke as one! And they spoke DECISIVELY!” (cue the trumpets!)
Please don’t fall for this bull. The people who spoke on Tuesday were White people. OLD White people. Old White Protestant People With An Ax To Grind Against The First Black President. The Talk Radio/Fox crowd is treating the results like silly putty, making the numbers mean whatever they want them to mean. (Millions of independent voters/rural Democrats turned against Obama; Benghazi/Fast and Furious/IRS caught up with him, etc. etc.)
Don’t Fall For Their Word Games and Lies.
THIS WAS INEVITABLE.
Look, the Bush years inspired a lot of anger among Americans of all stripes. But six years later, with troops having been brought home/still leaving Iraq and Afghanistan, a lot of that anger has dissipated. It’s the Sixth Year of the Obama Presidency and what has previously happened to a truckload of previous presidents, happened to him.
But what about the governorships, especially in Maryland??? Wow, a Republican governor in Maryland. What a shock!! That has NEVER happened before -- except for the six times that it did. And Massachusetts? 33 Republican governors of that state. Democrats need to Learn History and Get a Grip.
There are cycles to politics, and Dems had a good eight year run, 4 with the House and 8 with the Senate.
And even now, we are not that bad off. Why?
OUR POLICIES WON EVEN IF CANDIDATES DIDN’T.
I probably don’t need to go into this, so just do your own searching if you need more encouragement. PROGRESSIVE POLICIES WON ON TUESDAY. Marijuana, Fracking Bans, Minimum Wage increases, etc.
Take what's going on in Richmond: In a race that has flown way below radar, City Councilman Tom Butt was elected mayor of Richmond with 51.4 percent of the vote. He defeated Nat Bates, a longtime councilman who was heavily funded by Chevron. The progressive slate of council candidates appears to have swept the four available seats giving the city a 6-1 left leaning majority! Chevron was hoping to destroy the lawsuit filed by the city resulting from a refinery fire and efforts to increase their share of taxes by lavishing money on Bates. Didn't work! This was a clear case of good guys vs. bad guys and the good guys won. [6]
And gay marriage? Thbbbbbht. Ten years ago, this was THE wedge issue that helped propel Chimpy back into the White House. Now? The GOP has waved the white flag on this one to the point that they’ve driven poor Mike Huckabee to tears and a possible third party formation. Do not let anyone tell you that “LIBERAL POLICIES” drove the Democrats down this year.
WE (MOSTLY) WON WHERE WE WERE SUPPOSED TO
I will admit , I did not see the cliffhanger ending in the Virginia Senate race coming. I’m pretty sure I grew a few new gray hairs over THAT one on Tuesday night.
But otherwise, again, look at the Senate Pickups for the Repubs: Iowa, Colorado, North Carolina – all states that voted for Bush twice – and South Dakota, West Virginia, Montana, Arkansas, Alaska and probably Louisiana, all pretty solid red states. OK, whatever.
But you’d think those were the ONLY races going on: Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Oregon, and Rhode Island had Senate races too, and we won them all. Decisively.
Massachusetts: The same voters who elected what-his-face to governor also gave Ed Markey a full term in the Senate. [7]
New Jersey: Cory Booker elected to his first full term as well. Anybody who thinks that NJ is even going purple because of Chris Christie...well, I have a bridge to sell you.
In Michigan, which could have potentially been iffy, Gary Peters crushed Terri Lynn Land.
And in Minnesota, Al Franken romped.
Minnesota, to me, all by itself is a big loud rebuke to all the “The country turned against the Left Wing Policies!”-meme. This is the state that is home, of course, to one Michele Bachmann. Two years ago, she ran for president and performed well among the other clown car riders, winning the Iowa Straw poll. So that should’ve meant she would have had a decent shot for the Minnesota Senate belonging to Rush Limbaugh’s arch-nemesis Franken right? After all, he only beat Norm Coleman by a razor thin margin, right? And she's still a "rock star" in the Republican field, right? This should have been her moment.
But she didn’t run. Not for Senate, nor for governor (which, Mark Dayton won again).
Why? Because she knew she’d get flattened. Her appeal is to a fringe area of MN, not statewide. If there really had been a "Republican Wave" then a Michele Bachmann should have been able to cruise to victory.
If you are in a progressive state and you stand your ground, it's nigh impossible for you to lose.
GET YOUR POPCORN.
Remember Mitch McConnell’s primary challenge? I know, it seems like a lifetime ago, right? But yes, he did have an attack from his right flank from Matt Bevin, solid Tea Party/Fox News candidate. And McConnell firmly ascribed that not only Bevin, but ALL Tea Party candidates would get the Wil E. Coyote treatment. Bevin lost and then attention shifted to Mr. Turtle's fight against Allison Grimes. Conservatives had to grudgingly support him, but now that that's over, McConnell is back to being the number one target for the Talk Radio crowds’ darts. And he wasted no time obliging them.
McConnell's press conference on Thursday had the right-right-wing LIVID as he took future government shutdowns and debt limit fights off the table.
In the spirit of Nutpick-a-looza, check out the comments section at the link:
Stop being a crony capitalist sell out. By the way your "friends" in the Chamber of Commerce are backing Democrats like Mary Landreu. They are not your friends. Neither are the foolish liberal Republican consultants who have lost five of the last six general election votes in Presidential campaigns. If you follow their advice your term as Majority leader will be short.
You have the power of the purse but if you give that up in the lame duck then you have nothing to stop Obama when he violates the Constitution and goes around Congress.
Hear that McConnell? Don't give it up in the lame duck!!!
McConnell stepped out of the frying pan and into the fire.
That barely literate mongoloid who somehow managed to tap out that above comment is representative of the TP coalition. John Boehner is already hated as much as humanly possible by the right. You see what they did to Eric Cantor last spring. They love Ted Cruz almost as much as his colleagues hate him. They hate Karl Rove and they hate “The Establishment”.
Conservatives hate Democrats more than anything else, of course -- but Republicans run a close second. The next two years is going to see them tearing at each other with vigor and abandon.
And another thing: Let’s not assume that they are going to have a solid 54-majority block on every bill. The likes of Lamar Alexander, Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins, I believe, can still be counted on for dissent every now and then. Remember, nine Republicans voted to confirm Sonia Sotomayor, and five voted for Elena Kagan. And even with a 54-count, that means they still need to find six Democrats to cross over to their side to get veto-proof legislation passed. Of course, now that most of the red and purple state Dems are gone, where do they plan on finding those six votes? (oh, sit down Dianne Feinstein.)
2016 SHOULD BE MUCH BETTER.
You’ve heard this a million times, and you’ll hear it a million more. The great thing about it is that the Repubs, emboldened as they are, don’t really see it that way. Just like that Norquist ten years ago, they are once again drunk on hubris and arrogance, and they’ll make the same mistakes they did during the Bush era.
They accept the notion wholeheartedly that The Republican Agenda has once again been fully embraced [8] and that in 2016 their candidate is going to roll to a 49-state victory just like Ronnie in 1984. (NOTE: A return to the glory days of Reagan is always “ just around the corner” as far as Republicans are concerned.) [9] Let them have their moment.
REMEMBER: WE’RE STILL BETTER OFF IN THE LONG-RUN THAN THE REPUBS ARE. We're still the good guys. We still have the track record of Freedom, Justice and Equality. We're the party of caring for women and children. We're the party of clean air and fresh water. Don't run from who you are. Don't give in to the talking heads' portents of doom and destruction. Don't get me wrong, we still have to work, but we're no longer climbing uphill on Mt Everest. Right now, well...we're canoeing in the fjords of Norway.
It's estimated that about $3.67B was spent on this election. If you want to split that in half for each side, that's like $1.8B apiece. Nearly $2B was spent defeating Democrats! Be proud of that! Embrace the hate! We've earned it over the last 10 years! Nobody spends that kind of money on an enemy who isn't worth it!
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a Peyton Manning voodoo doll that needs my attention. (Don't laugh! It worked like a charm last February!)
[1] Well, OK, breaking someone's leg might be too extreme. A shank in the back sends an equally visceral message and is also an Oakland tradition. (I'm the sentimental type.)
[2] In my America, we choose our own team.
[3]Sorry about that mental image.
[4]One of the reasons this was so noteworthy was that everybody was so down on Texas at the time. But actually Dallas County went for Obama both times. As did Harris County (Houston). Texas cities are not that THAT conservative, really.
[5] Not saying Grimes shouldn't have run. It is always important to run in red states regardless of how grim the odds. But when doing so, it's useless to just become a watered-down replica of your opponent.
[6] Basically, it was a real life Disney movie!
[7]Weary Massachusetts residents were ecstatic with Markey's promise of "vote for me and I pledge NO MORE SENATE ELECTIONS in the state for at least the next two hours!
[8]Despite the fact that -- except for We Hate Obama! -- there wasn't really a Republican Agenda to speak of.
[9]Even though it's been repeatedly proven that Reagan was not the patron Saint of Conservative Doctrine as hagiography makes him out to be.