The election last night wasn't as bad as it could have been — the teabaggers who'd received much ridicule, Angle and O'Donnell and probably Miller, were defeated (there's a lesson there, I think) — but sanity did not win out, and the Republicans have taken over the US House, and here in Minnesota, they've taken control of both the state house and senate — Democrats have probably won the governorship, but it's so close that there's going to be a recount. These next few years are going to be extraordinarily painful. Personally, I'm going to take a hit: the Republicans will do their best to gut education in this state, and while I've already taken a pay cut this year, I expect I'll be seeing more cuts in the future.I wonder what the "reasonable" approach to having effective government would be. I read a lot of different political writers, and so far I have not heard a single rational strategy. They range from Kos' advocating a cut-throat brutal purely political strategy, to completely abandoning any involvement in politics at all.
It's not surprising that Democrats lost ground. The economy sucks, which means many people are flailing about for change, and we have to admit it: the Democrats are uninspiring, boring, and unfocused. They can't deliver a strong message that makes a case for why we should continue to vote for them, and I know in my case that when I went into the election booth, I was simply making an anti-Rethuglican vote; with the exception of a few local candidates, I was not excited about any of the Democrats here.
What really makes me despair, though, is that I can guess exactly how the Democrats will respond to this drubbing. Instead of refocusing on the liberal and progressive values that ought to be their main message, they're going to turtle up. They do it every time. Instead of trying to distinguish themselves from the loonies on the right, they'll all move closer to what they'll call "moderate", but is actually more of a conservative right-wing position. And the next election will be even worse.
Unless somebody on our side wakes up and realizes that they're in a fight, and that conciliatory measures are not called for. I'm looking at you, Obama. But somehow, I don't think he's the right man for the job.
I must be the crazy one because I haven't read anyone else advocating that we elect the looniest right wing freaks imaginable, let them burn it all to the ground.. and then start over.
I don't think that the efforts of the "professional left" have amounted to a thing. The 2008 elections were simply a reaction to George Bush and had nothing to do with the Democrats - with the exception of Obama. He was slick and cool, hopey and changey, and made people think that politics could be different. Everyone knows now, that was bullshit.
Simple messaging isn't going to work. Trying to run on policies isn't going to work. Trying to be more like the Republicans isn't going to work. The Democratic brand is damaged.
The only way that we can get sensible policy in the US in our life time is to experience real and wide spread pain. I'm not talking about 10% unemployment, but 25%... wages dropping like a rock.. demand and production dropping.. and adding a military draft would be nice. Expose every single 20 year old to the very real threat of a meaningless death in some desert wasteland, and maybe entire families will respond in outrage that has been missing from the political debate.
Was either war even an issue during this campaign? Was it mentioned by any of the candidates? Does anybody even give a shit about the body count and monetary cost anymore?
Of course, it would be much better if Americans simply voted for people who actually represent their views on policies, but that will never happen. They vote on emotion - and Jebus and "values" will always be at home in the stupid, and the worse the economic conditions get, the stupider the nation will become.
In the end, we're just going to get a very long period of the current mess... not quite bad enough to effect real change.
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