First off, mea culpa. I was wrong about this election. The wave of righteous fury against the misrule of Bush and the Republicans was too big to overcome, despite the worst efforts of the Architect and his acolytes. And frankly, I couldn’t be more happy about my miserable failure as an election prognosticator. Long live the tsunami!
That said, we owe this victory in large part to DNC Chairperson Howard Dean and his 50 state strategy. If the politicians who opposed him most vehemently, Rahm Emanuel, Chuck Schumer and the other members of the Democratic establishment in Congress had run the campaign they originally envisaged we would not have won by the significant margin that we did. Indeed, we might not even have won the House at all, and we certainly wouldn’t have a shot at a majority in the Senate this morning. It was Howard Dean’s vision of competing in every state, of asking every person for their vote, that proved to be the right one. Dean was right and the DCCC and DSCC leadership were wrong.
Thank you, Howard Dean. And thanks to all the hard working Democratic party volunteers and activists in every state that made his vision come true. Despite your naysayers and demonizers, this victory was realized because of your tireless efforts.
As for the legacy of Chuck Schumer and Rahm Emanuel? I give you one name: Joe Lieberman.
Chuck is not up for a primary until 2010 🙁
Oh, BTW, you are forgiven for the poor forecasting 😉
Thank you. Being a pre-election pessimist has its advantages though. It vastly increases my joy at victory today.
It’s so much to be pleasasantly surprised than horribly disappointed, isn’t it?
Happy Post-Election Day!
Oh yes. Much nicer. So did you stay up all night or go to bed at a reasonable time, like yours truly?
I had about 2 hours sleep.
I second that. I can barely believe the results. I still feel like I need to pinch myself!
Steven D, Moi guilty too but I’ll hold before letting it go full throttle.
I’ll repeat moi guilty after the recounts. Josh Marshall reminds that where Rove excels.
and yes, there’s a recount battle in FL – Katherine Harris’ district: Electronic Voting shortfall Raises eyebrows
Remember that in 2004 Dino Rossi was ahead in the Washington governor’s race after the election by some miniscule margin (a few hundred votes, I don’t remember), which triggered an automatic recount that narrowed his lead. Then instead of rolling over the state Democratic party paid for a second, hand recount, which put Chris Gregoire over the top.
Ratfinks in this state have been crying foul ever since, despite the fact that the recounts were supervised by a Republican Secretary of State and ratified by a hand-picked Republican judge in one of the reddest parts of the state. Well, in their own words, they can just get over it.
And if the Democratic parties in Montana and Virginia refuse to be intimidated and stay with the process all the way through, there’s no reason why these recounts won’t be fair — and, hopefully, hold up.
I’m delighted for the nation overall, but I still have Musgrave. 🙁
And yes, Dean ROCKS! I’m going to give him some $ today to buy a second helping.
Yeeeeargh! Thanks, Howard. Thanks, grassroots!
Howard, of course, was gracious giving credit to Rahm.
And, oh yes, another of Rahm’s legacies: Peter Roskam.
Maybe next time she won’t let him run her campaign for her.
Yup, I was wrong too.
So congrats, you folks in PA. Congrats on your shiny new misogynist and homophobe. I hope you’re very proud, and I really look forward to reading all of your bitching when he crosses the aisle repeatedly.
And why piss on everybody’s parade, MIM? Save it for tomorrow. We’ll still be here. And we’ll still be glad we’re rid of Santorum.
rid of him, replaced with a clone. Yippee.
Look, a lot of true progressives won yesterday, but how much of that are we hearing in the MSM this morning? Nope, the story being pushed, including by the party, is that Dems won BECAUSE they pushed odious scum like Casey.
The Hate Amendment passing here by such a large margin has me in a pissy mood this morning. Sorry.
I understand your frustration and anger at the hate Amendments. It is part and parcel of the Republican strategy for fear, greed, and hate. I know it is little solace to you, but I wish things had turned out better. Decency demands that politicians stop pushing hate and fear.
I’m so glad the Repugs aren’t in total control of things anymore. I see some hope in this, that feels pretty good after so not having any. At least there is some chance of further progressive change now. And at least an opportunity to insert some measure of accountability back into this sick, corrupt system.
Yet at the same time, as a gay American (who is also the mother and grandmother of two other proud and beautiful gay women,) I am very frightened, and I am mourning what the Hate Amendment’s sucess means for them, and for so many of us. It “legitimizes” hatred of gays for all who are filled with bigotry and honophobia, and makes all of us less safe, right here in our own country.
When, as a gay American, my family and I are afforded the same standing and civil rights as other Americans, maybe then I can celebrate victories like this more freely.
Nope, the story being pushed, including by the party, is that Dems won BECAUSE they pushed odious scum like Casey.
It was very obvious watching the pundits that they all felt that many, many of the major Dem victories were due to fiscal conservative and socially conservative Dems like Casey being in the race. The implication is that to win in America today, one must be a social conservative on family value issues (whatever that really is). However will there be a future price to pay for this? (see below).
Now the big question has to be whether this conservative shift to win is indeed the truth? If it is, then what is the future for the progressive ideas in any political party, and what do us social liberals do now??????????????
I have always felt the women’s freedom issue will someday rise to the top, and progressive candidates will win on that freedom issue alone. I do not know the actual timetable for this and it somewhat depends on the course of Roe, but assuming Roe goes bye-bye, can smart progressives wake the women up to their second class citizen status?? Also will these women then hold any grudges held against a party that could violate such basic freedoms at any time in the past??
Tough times for progressive social ideals right now!
There are lots of older women like me, (you know us, the “womens studies types”?!), who have been sitting by watching years and years of blood, sweat and tears work go slowly down the drain, for a long time now, in the name of political expediency. It’s been a pretty lonely stance, as so many women (and men) of today never experienced how it was before, and apparently do not believe it could ever happen in todays world. Well hello. It can and it continues to, right in front of everyones half shut eyes.
Whatever other good news comes from this Democratic win of the House, I don’t expect it to be of much help to women or to gays or minorities in any future I am likely to see at my age.
If someone’s rights must be bargained away for political gain, we all know it will be womens rights, not mens, and that is exactly what is happening now. But so far, the effects of this have been felt mostly by poor women, ie: those denied access to care, services etc. Not until these cumulative effects build, and rise up to take a bite out of the rights of middle and upper class women, will there be enough of a outcry to build any effective push back.
The centrist Democratic pro lifers are NOT likely to antagonize their loyal base, that they know they will need to get reelected next time, by voting pro choice.
It is quite likely we will lose Roe, and women will be taking one very looong step backward, under this current political set up.
.
typo: “there will NOT be enough of an outcry..etc
I agree with your post above and share in your pain and outlook. The one area of hope that I was hinting about in my above post has to do with whether Dems as a group will agree with this future wake-up potential of women, AND WILL THERE BE A FUTURE SERIOUS PRICE TO PAY FOR CALLOUS CHAUVINISTIC ACTIONS THAT MIGHT BE TAKEN NOW??? Remember that the South Dakota abortion initiative was defeated which is a clear signal to anyone not brain dead that women still want some rights (even in semi-comatose South Dakota), and political religious screwballs maybe need to be held in check by the majority (hopefully) in any political philosophy! We will see what the Reids, Caseys, and ? Webbs do in this area over the next few years.
Well, I’ve also learned you can’t really kill hope permanently: it seems to have a knack for resurrecting itself. 🙂 Maybe someday, NG, there will be a high enough penalty for discrimation to encourage politcal strategists to stop embracing it as a method of political advancement.
I suppose it’s only fair, after all we’ve been parading in his rain for a while. 🙂
He does have a point, this election was not an unmixed blessing. But no one has ever said this was the be-all and end-all of elections; in fact, it’s just the first step. Washington waited 20 years or more for a measure to ban hate-based discrimination to clear the legislature, and it’s one of the bluest states there is. This is going to take a while.
Madman, am I happy about the makeup of all the Dem candidates? No. It’s a shame that Casey was inserted by Schumer as the candidate because Karl Marx could have defeated Santorum this year.
The Democratic party is deeply flawed in my view. However, that said, there are signs that give me hope. Howard Dean is one of them. The large number of new Congress people who did not benefit from the efforts of the DCCC and DSCC is another. They will be less inclined to take their marching orders from the party establishment, hopefully.
To paraphrase a certain moron, we are engaged in a long war for the soul of the Democratic Party. Will it stay beholden to corporate influences or will it return to its progressive/liberal roots? That question won’t be answered in 2 years time or 4 or even 8. But that is what we are fighting for. Last night was a small victory for those who believe in traditional Democratic values of fairness, equality, and economic justice.
The way politics are structured in America third parties have little chance to obtain power. I like much of the platform of the Green party, but it will never acheive that status unless one of the major parties collapses. At the moment I feel my best efforts can be spent in changing the Dem party from within, much as the Conservative Movement changed the dynamics of the Republican party during the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s. I understand that you probably don’t agree with me about that.
I know I shouldn’t be bitter. Hell, this morning I awoke to Steny Hoyer uttering the words “Speaker Pelosi” on CNN (so hopefully that’s a sign that I was wrong that he’d try to backstab her … I think Murtha’s challenge to him headed it off).
The narrative in the media is that the Dems won b/c they ran right. You and I know that a lot of the winners in the House are lefties, or center left, but that’s not the narrative being pushed. McCaskill and Casey winning will result in MORE former Republcans being recruited into the party. It’s Emmanuel’s and Schumer’s recruitment efforts that are getting the media rewards, NOT the 50-state strategy. It’s the media driven conventional wisdom that determines future courses, and this one doesn’t bode well.
You have a more positive nature than I do. I wish I felt more optimistic. I’m glad that I was wrong about the size of the Dems’ win. I hope that Hoyer has been headed off. We’ll see. Hate won again in several states, including mine, and that feels ominous to me.
Since when does the corporate media ever push a truthful narrative about our politics?
Not all of us in PA voted for him, Madman. And some of us are even more concerned about what will happen if (as many predict) he leaves the senate to run for governor, where his misogyny and homophobia can run rampant (much like his father’s) and wreak even more havoc on people’s lives than possible as 1 of 100 senate members. Remember, PA is a trigger state for anti-choice laws.
I actually was not wrong, well, at least not yet. My predicition from about a week ago was just based on what Rove said – House they’d give up & keep the Senate… considering even if the Senate goes 50/50 with Cheney as the tie breaker, they can count on good ol’ Joe for the bi-partisanship needed to pass those torture laws and paint the Dems as obstructionist. We’ll see as the week goes on.
Same deal in the House – especially if they launch investigations — those crazy liberals like Conyers, not representative of the country at all.
CNN told us last night — the American people didn’t reject conservatism, they rejected the conservatives who strayed too far from it and were personally unrepentant… and instead elected those same types of conservatives as Democrats… and that’s what the country voted for. Conservatives. Not exactly a victory to savour if you think long-term.
Sad but true, which is why I went to bed at 11pm, I was sick of the bad news.
My Democracy Bonds are the best $ I’ve spent this year – thanks to Howard Dean!!
I’m also wondering what happened in state legislatures around the country. Here in MN I think the results are mixed, but mostly good news.
We re-elected right-wing Governor Pawlenty, mostly due I think to the 100,000 votes that went to the Independent candidate. I know some people who supported the Ind. candidate and I’ll have to keep my mouth shut around them the next time I see them.
But the good news is that Pawlenty will have a solid Dem majority in both the state house and senate (before Dems had a slight majority in the Senate and Rep controlled the House). The “throw the Republicans out” mentality really affected these state races BIG time.
But in the long run the grassroots has fired a serious warning shot at the likes of Chuckie and Rahm, their day will come!
As for a little sunshine for everyone:
Speaker Pelosi… House Judiciary Committee Chaitman John Conyers!
Let the fucking onslaught of subpoenas begin!
Conyers chairing the Judiciary is something I can sink my teeth into. Conyers is a national treasure. Just the sight of little Jimmy Sensenbrenner longing over Conyers’ gavel is good enough for me. And Conyers, the class act that he is, will take the high road and treat him with respect. A more glaring example of the difference between republican hubris and the grace of a real democrat could not be found.
Well, at least they will not have to hold their meetings in a coat closet in the basement anymore. That will be a very big plus! We all hope that the congressman gets down to business and hold all kinds of investigations and make our job in 08 a lot easier. YEA!!!!!!! We all have a lot of work to do now….lets bet busy..now is not the time to let our hair down..we got the momentum. We must get the war over and done with…that is a must! first and mostly….