Deep breaths, folks. Deep breaths.
During the campaign, we were a lot like this. It didn't matter that Obama was consistently walloping McCain in the polls, or that our most credible political analysts were predicting a landslide. It didn't matter. Everywhere you'd go, wherever Democrats were hanging out, they'd be working each other into a serious freak-out session.
"Oh my God, he picked Sarah Palin, it's over." Don't pretend you didn't say it.
"I know I know, it all looks good, but something is going to go wrong; something always goes wrong." You said that, too.
It's really one of our most endearing qualities. When anyone anywhere speculates for any period of time about some far-off possible doom for Democrats, we gather around, all of us, and collectively panic.
But, I promise you, fellow anxiety-driven friends, now is not the time to panic. Now is the time to start taking the long view.
The 24-hour news cycle, the minute-by-minute blogosphere, all of it gives the impression that any single day, any single minute, is critically important. You see a bad story one day and assume the game's over. Viewers watching MSNBC last week heard Contessa Brewer and Dylan Ratigan talking about whether or not the Republican party was poised to make a huge comeback in the 2010 midterms. The discussion centered around new polling that showed Congress at a staggeringly low 24 percent approval rating -- the lowest recording of the year.
If Democrats are this disliked, a Republican resurgence is inevitable, right? Right?
Of course, neither anchor mentioned that Congress pretty much always polls that low, that it was polling that low in 2008, when Democrats managed to win a second consecutive landslide. Or more importantly, that the way people feel about Congress in July 2009 is probably the least explanatory variable one can come up with for how people will vote for their representative in November 2010. I mean, really, you might as well use a Magic Eight Ball.
Still, watch a segment like that on a Thursday in July, and you're ready to start packing for Canada again. I know, I get it.
And maybe there's nothing I can say that will make you feel any better about all of this; maybe it's the plight of Democrats, prisoners of a self-loathing neuroses that's just so quintessentially left. But if you can take a step back, if you can stop obsessing over the short term, just for a minute or two, you'll see that the longer view is really a much better one.
Look at health care. What a mess, right? Except that, more or less, this is going according to plan. The roadblocks we've faced thus far were largely expected, as were the deals brokered. By the end of the year, it's very likely that we'll have a bill, and that it will be the most significant change to the health care system since Medicare.
And then there's the economy. I know, you hear Republicans talking about deficit spending, and calling this "Obama's economy," and you think, damn, that sounds pretty effective, we're probably screwed. But stop thinking about what the economy looks like today, for today, and start thinking about what it will mean for tomorrow.
The Dow is hanging out above 9,000 now. Great news. The GDP loss is shrinking, and most think the economy will start growing again. Even better. Allan Greenspan just said he was pretty sure we've seen the bottom. Tim Geithner said there is zero chance of financial collapse. USA Today reported that the surge in stimulus spending offset huge losses at the state and local level. Cash for clunkers was incredibly successful. Things are getting better, and they will continue to get better. Republicans knew that their only chance to beat Obama was for the economy to collapse and for Obama to be blamed. But guess what folks, all indicators say that just isn't going to happen.
I know it's tempting to draw conclusions from Obama's approval ratings on any given day or week, that the ebb and flow of positive and negative stories can cloud the view of what's happening. But step back for a second and take a deep breath. Things are going to be just fine.
Democrats will probably lose a few seats in the House, sure, but we'll probably net a few more in the Senate, and in both cases we'll continue to hold our majority. Plus, those seats we're likely to lose are Blue Dog Democrats from extremely conservative districts. And those guys have been driving you nuts anyway. So cheer up!
We've got a great shot at getting a health care bill. The economy is healing. The GOP is morphing into a party of the fringe.
This isn't a time for panic; it's a time for some seriously hopeful optimism. Just try taking the long view.
Follow Dylan Loewe on Twitter: www.twitter.com/dylanloewe
WE'RE the nice guys. (Yeah, and nice guys finish last, I know THAT.)
And THEY'RE the ones always thumping the bible (but when do they EVER show any of the compassion religion is supposed to teach)?
Oh, how I'd love to debate someone on the right! The media should, but all it does is hand the mike over--I've never seen so many "commentators" who are clearly not even listening to what their guests are saying.
We on the Left don't have comparable money to Big Business. We don't have will to disrupt town hall meetings or have commentators make news by saying outrageous things (except maybe K.O.) All it is going to take is for another terrorist attack or some other big disaster and this Prez is finished. I've seen conservative ideology win for most of the past 30 years, and it is hard for me to imagine a "real" change in this country. Am I focusing too much on the negative? I think I'm just being realistic ...
And all they all they have to offer is more of the same.
Thanks to your views on climate change, we won't have any grandchildren.
the hypocrisy is mind blowing
Obama, Pelosi and Reid are in the pockets of the Republicrats who always stifle progressive change.
This is not CRISIS time. It is not time to concede to the emotions of the story hungry media, foaming at the mouth conservatives or the party that lets RADIO PERSONALITIES RUN THEIR HOUSE.
Libs/Progressives got here through level headed reasoning, facts, reality and pragmatism.
I had a conversation with a tried and true GOP supporter the other day.
I remained CIVIL while he went through the ditto-head talking points, 1 by 1.
Muslim, non-American, commie, racist, socialist, skeletons in the closet...etc, he left nothing in the bag.
All of his jive refuted, crushed and rebutted.
In the end he could only say, "I just don't like the guy. I can't put my finger on it."
GOOD THING IS, the same bee-ess that lost them the election, the senate and America, is what their still using.
Good thing they have NEW MATERIAL, right? :-)
We only got 53%, and that was with an absolutely stellar candidate at the top of the ticket. It's not time to panic, but it's not time for complacency either.
"The most significant change to the health care system since Medicare"?
Yeah--and the Centrists' and Blue Dogs' proposed change change is to mandate Americans to pay graft to the private health insurance private cartel in order to get inadequate coverage, while failing to eliminate the biggest problem in the system--the $350 billion devoured every year by that cartel, which ought never to have come into existence.
No thanks, Obama, AHIP, Nelson and Baucus. We need HR 676, and will accept nothing else. We needed it when Truman proposed it, and the fact that we didn't get us brought us to this mess.
Any Democrat who opposes single payer will be challenged in the primaries.
"Both Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner and chief economic adviser Lawrence Summers had suggested during appearances on the Sunday morning news talk shows that tax increases could not be ruled out for Americans earning less than the threshold that the president has set."
Matter of fact if you actually heard the two speak they used almost the exact same wording which strongly suggests their coordinated discussion points were the latest "talking points" from the White House. In other words, the promise to not raise taxes on the middle class as defined by those making less than $250,000.00 appears to be a broken promise waiting to happen. What is so dangerous about this is that this is exactly what many on the conservative side said Obama would do..."he'll raise your taxes"...and we on the left always could counter and say that he in fact was going to lower taxes. I'd hate to be made into a liar.
Anyway, I just checked the news headlines again and I see the White House just issued a statement against raising taxes on the middle class refutting what Obama's advisors told the world on Sunday. Maybe a "trial ballon".
If you agree, please sign the petition below, and forward it - any way you can - to anyone and everyone you know! Time to let them know how we feel!!!!
http://www.petitiononline.com/PubOp676/petition.html