I’ve taken a break from blogging since the health care debate in December 2009. But on the eve of the midterm elections, there’s one argument that needs to be made in anticipation of some of our worst habits.
Win or lose tomorrow, I’m sticking with Obama, and I urge everyone else to join me.
Jump.
Forget all the talk of half measures, selling out, throwing progressives “under the bus,” or whatever the metaphor de jour is. Should the worse happen tomorrow, it’s going to get brutal. Mitch McConnell has already articulated the goal of the Republican majority: make Obama a one-term president. My prediction, should the Republicans fail to win in 2012, is that we will see another impeachment trial. The stakes are that high, and the opposition is that deranged.
Meanwhile, our Democratic friends will be engaged in a wave of recriminations that will make the Scott Brown victory look like Currier and Ives.
Don't enable the circular firing squad. If there’s one lesson to draw from the last two years that can apply to a post-midterm aftermath, it’s this: the Right has a unified message and a focused infrastructure dedicated to total opposition; we can either engage on the front lines or fight each other. If we turn against our own team, we guarantee the right wing frame dominates the conversation and our people will get crushed.
Our guy in the arena has a tough fight, and we have only a couple of options: help or bail.
I’ve got Obama’s back. Now I’m off to GOTV. You can find out where to volunteer or how to make calls from home at Organizing for America's website.
Sorry for the short diary, but there's work to be done today and tomorrow.