I woke up this morning to discover the GOP had received significant chastisement at the ballot box, in ways and places I had not expected. Scare ads about wokeness, "communism" (socialism, which you are free to loathe, is not communism, despite decades of mostly Soviet Russian propaganda blurring that line; will you please go read some history?) and a tiny minority within a tiny minority* did not stampede voters away from Democrats and towards Republicans. High fuel prices, high grocery prices (etc.) and an unpopular war appeared to motivate voters, as did grabbing and deporting people's coworkers, friends and relatives: it turns out that stuff annoys folks a whole lot. Plain talk about corruption and good governance helped the victors.
Politicians of both parties need to get out of their tight-knit, self-congratulatory circles and go talk to people. Some of the most stunning and decisive upsets were by candidates who got out and listened to voters -- all of the voters -- in their state or district, and then spoke about how they would address the issues that they learned mattered. What they go on to do (or even attempt) will tell the tale, and could turn an election win into a lasting legacy.
Vindictive fanatics and blinkered ideologues lost last night and pragmatic politicians won. If the 2026 winners govern as pragmatically as they campaigned, they can do a lot of good. If they're another pack of empty, slick-talking suits and Party hacks, voters can boot them out, same as they just did the last set.
Nobody should take this outcome for granted. This is not a time to relax, hold hands and sing songs. Come the swearings-in, it will be time to get down to work.
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* The unsuccessful 1970s tennis player, a weightlifter guy and a handful of student athletes notwithstanding, the overlap between transpeople and active sports participants is unsurprisingly minuscule. This is a non-issue, best left to the various bodies that regulate their respective sports. People that don't like it can form their own particular softball leagues, precisely as all sorts of Americans have been doing since time immemorial. "What would I do if accosted by a hairy weirdo in the locker room?" Pepper-spray them, just as I would any credible threat. And if there's an earthquake -- a far more likely occurrence -- I'll run outside, away from buildings. Grow the hell up and stop whining that the entire world must be Nerfed for your comfort.
For all their talk about 'Self-Reliance', there's a lot of Republicans who want Daddy Government to make the scary people they don't like stop it.
ReplyDeleteIf a party makes the assumption "what are they going to do, vote for the other guys?!?"... well, they shouldn't be surprised if that's just what happens.
The big question is will either party actually learn from this election.
Another one I'm seeing lots of is the "how could people vote for/against (issue)!?!?!"
DeleteSimple- you didn't make a good case for why it was wrong or right.
An attack of sanity and decency. but as I wrote elsewhere this am (Ars Technica, highly recommended)
ReplyDeleteAs I like to remind people, the Bolsheviks were in the minority after the Russian revolution...and promptly bulldozed and steamrolled the majority Mensheviks. A majority of sane decency has just routed the Right in the midterms...now lets hope and act to restore campaign financing limits and antitrust curbs. OUR revolution has just started; let's make sure the Right doesn't end up owning everything.