“I was working for Ronald Reagan in 1980 when he trounced Jimmy Carter and Republicans swept to 12 pick-ups in the Senate and 33 in the House. Reagan was much more respected — and effective — in working with Congress because of that thumping victory.”- David Gergen
As Sarah Palin would say, “You Betcha!” I have been arguing all year that this election would break late one way or the other (most likely to the Democrats) and that this would not be another close red/blue election. I’ve also been arguing that the whole culture of Washington as we have known it since the 1980 election (and, especialy, the 1994 midterms), will change if Obama is swept into office in a realigning election.
All those assumptions about how this is a fundamentally conservative, center-right nation? Out the window. But don’t get too excited. Even a center-left American political culture is miles to the right of the Left in Canada or Europe. Our center-left is closer to their center-right. But, it’s progress. And we’re progressives, right? That means we’re winning for a change. And winners don’t have to apologize for who they are. Winners can point at the other guys and turn up their nose and say, “they’re conservatives.” And everyone will know why that’s a bad thing to be.
We have a chance tomorrow to do what we failed to do in 2004. And that is to tell the world that America is better than George Bush, Tom DeLay, and Bill Frist. We can be a good neighbor. We can be good partners. And we can be good leaders. If this election goes well, we’ll have the foundation for a new Democratic majority for a generation or more. We’ll be on offense again.
Do you remember what it looked like to be on offense? It’s been 40 years.
Ooh, yeah! Can you feel it?
