It feels good to win.
With the Democrats retaking the House, it feels like the natural order of things has been restored. Of course, no party is entitled to a house of Congress, but the Dems did control it for 40 years. It feels like it should be theirs. Bill Clinton probably feels vindicated, since he’s the one who lost Congress in the first place.
I’m usually a channel flipper on election night, but not this year: for some reason I found myself transfixed by Chris Matthews and Keith Olbermann on MSNBC, a channel I rarely watch. I can’t look at Chris Matthews without seeing Darrell Hammond.
Some tidbits:
* Not a single Democratic incumbent was defeated last night in a House, Senate or governor’s race – “an unprecedented event since the advent of universal suffrage.” [link]
* The new Senate will have the highest number of women ever: 16. That’s still about 40 seats short of what it should be, but given that there were only 2 sitting female senators as late as 1992, it’s still progress, however slow.
* For the first time, a proposed constitutional amendment to ban any form of legal recognition for same-sex couples was defeated. This happened in Arizona. Also: “Anti-marriage amendments were on the ballot in eight states and were approved in seven of the eight, but by significantly lower margins than in past years.” That’s called looking at the bright side, I guess, but it’s still progress in the long term. [link]
* Democrats now control more governships. More Democratic governors = more potential Democratic presidential candidates in the future.
* “With moderates in the Northeast falling, the Republican conference will grow more conservative.” Also: “The complexion of the Democratic presence in Congress will change as well. Party politics will be shaped by the resurgence of ‘Blue Dog’ Democrats, who come mainly from the South and from rural districts in the Midwest and often vote like Republicans.” [link]
* New visual for (at least) the next two years: Nancy Pelosi sitting on the dais behind the president during the State of the Union address. The first woman to sit there.
Who knows what the future will bring? Complications will likely arise. Politics is politics.
I’m just glad that the horrible 109th Congress will soon be history. No more Terri Schiavo, no more flag-burning amendment, no more Federal Marriage Amendment, no more Dennis Hastert.
It feels good to win.
Now is the time to start fundraising for 2008 and refining our national strategies; Those bills that are passed need to be “publicity-hot” topics to *our* base: affordable healthy insurance, a life-sustaining minimum wage, and better fiscal oversight of the Iraq Occupation.
We also need to re-birth the House’s Committee on Standards of Official Conduct and turn-out the more unseemly members, regardless of party affiliation — and to be ruthless about it. 2008’s outcome demands it.
What we need to guard against within our own ranks, at this level, is the degenerative cynicism so often common in our Democratic-friendly media streams (e.g., blogs, old paper mags and newspapers, and local DNC talking-groups). These hyper-cynics too often speak without thinking long-term, damaging many future campaigns by deflating expectations and discouraging the younger, more creative members of our party from taking stronger control of how the organization is run. We must learn from the RNC — the young are a huge, yet untapped base for the Democratic movement.
Towards that end…
We need to purge our membership of those who prefer more to engage in negative-bonding sessions than formulating a good and hope-centric message. The magnitude of 2008’s anticipated battles and national-war demands such a purge.
rob@egoz.org
It sure does feel good. I just hope now that Democrats are serious about trying to do what they can and they don’t simply ratchet up the partisanship and the rhetoric. Let’s see some productive legislation here, folks. Let’s get a new Medicare bill and repeal some tax cuts.
TinMan said: “Anti-marriage amendments were on the ballot in eight states and were approved in seven of the eight, but by significantly lower margins than in past years.â€
And then, there’s my home state, where the amendment passed by 81%. Damn.
I never felt so happy to be an Arizonan. Yay!
A day like this means we get to see lots of Larry Sabato on t.v.!!!!