I write here not because I fancy myself to be a pundit or excessively intelligent or somehow able to 'read' the voting public better than others. I write this as much to collect my thoughts as to find others who are on the same page with me.
So, I start with the basic facts. 2010 mid-term elections were a massive loss for the Dems. Historic losses. But we live in historic times. More on this later. But several things stand out to me:
First, the voting population. Like most midterms, it was predominantly white, older, and conservative. And like most midterms, it was less that half of the registered voters who cast ballots. And, despite the overall results, many many people cast votes for Democratic candidates. When you think in those terms, it adds a perspective. It also adds fire, for me, to keep moving forward and to understand the importance of staying on course. We are always going to have different views of how our country should be governed. That is the essence of democracy. You know what else is the essence? Voting. Not punditry, prognosticating, or *shudder* even giving up on the whole process. Voting. That assumes an educated electorate. Cheerleading mantra #1: Be part of the solution, not part of the problem. Stay in the fight!!
Second, the narrative IS important. Remember how, after health care reform passed, polls kept coming out showing a majority of Americans against the law? Remember how frustrating it was because the poll results were not getting at the issue? Two things were now know: people were (are) confused about what the bill is truly about, and many of the 'dissatisfied' votes were from people who wanted the bill to go further, to change our system more radically than the bill actually did. Well, I think this is analogous to these election results. Now, before you start screaming, of course there are many who did vote AGAINST Obama specifically and even health care reform specifically. Those are philosophical differences that will always stand. (Hell, we cannot get many conservatives to even say that health care for all is necessary or needed.) We will not ever win that fight with that sub-population of voters/politicians. But back to the analogy: these results can be interpreted as a failure to win the narrative. A failure for Dems, the White House, all of us to get the message out, to state clearly what the bill will do and why it is important. Same analogy for the stimulus. The message was so confused, many voters could not differentiate between TARP and the stimulus, far less make informed decisions about their worth. The lack of Democratic turnout can easily be understood in these terms. Cheerleading mantra #2: go beyond how things are presented to us. Stay informed!!!
Of course, the bottom line is that the economy drove these results. Fox News, et al. were always going to drive the 'Obama is a socialist message' into the ground. That is a given. But if unemployment was down to below 6%, I would not be writing this. I would be writing a smug, snarky post about how much progressive politics RAWK! Ok, not really. After all, this IS still America. For some reason, our populace prefers the label 'conservative' over 'progressive', even when said persons support progressive causes. Sad, but true. Cheerleading mantra #3: I am proud to be a progressive. Woo hooooo!
So, that is the end of my thoughts on Tuesday's midterms. A post-mortem? Not so much.
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