I am a big fan of Sunday afternoon naps. They very rarely happen in the chaos of our household but when they do, you know it is a great day. My husband and I put the kids down to rest, turn on an old movie, and settle in for a much-appreciated, always too-short slumber.
The movie we turned on this week was called Disclosure. It is about a female in power making a pass at her male subordinate in the middle of a merger with another company. The man scurried around trying to prove his innocence when the female claimed the aggression was actually the other way around. Meanwhile, the merger was falling apart. A wise friend kept telling him to “fix the problem.” We later come to understand that she was talking about the merger, not the sexual harassment charge.
As we play the game of 20/20 hindsight about Tuesday’s election, the “Fix the Problem” mantra is on repeat in my brain. In the three big races of the day -- NJ, VA, and Upstate NY --the incumbent party lost. In order to turn around the country’s anti-incumbency mood, our elected officials are going to have to start tackling the issues (fix the problem) – not with lip service or political gotcha but with real progress. This is especially true for younger voters, who expressed their dissatisfaction with these candidates by staying home on Tuesday. Many of these voters cast their first ballot for President Obama who inspired them with his message of change. They clearly view finger pointing, boycotts, walkouts, and sell-outs as being a hindrance of those promises and in the face of politics as usual, they will tune-out, which is bad news for those in charge.
So, what does all this mean for climate change? Moderates up for reelection in 2010 from both parties are running scared. They think that the results from the off year election are a signal that Congress should avoid the tough issues. If they win that argument, climate change (and healthcare, and financial reform and…) all lose out. More fundamentally, abandoning the tough issues misses one of the few real lessons of yesterday’s off-year election–fix the problem. Stop scurrying around to keep your job and instead, do your job.
Whether action on a climate bill is delayed or not, the issue will be a hot topic in the mid-term elections. No matter what happens, these elections highlighted that moderates are going to be painted as tree-hugging sympathizers because the opposition views that as an easy way to win. They shouldn’t allow the other side to get the chance to paint them with any brush. Incumbents should get ahead of the curve by embracing climate legislation that will create jobs, reduce pollution, and not only make our country safer but more self-reliant. The sooner they do this, the sooner that they can start to tout their progress back home. More generally, they get to go back to their states and say, “I fixed a problem.” That is something that will get people out to vote, no matter the individual issue. That is something that will change the anti-incumbency mood. Run on leadership, not away from issues in fear of defeat.
Fix the Problem.
Follow Heather Taylor-Miesle on Twitter: www.twitter.com/NRDC_AF
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"A Zogby poll found that a majority of Americans favors the Clean Energy Bill and wants the Senate to take action. Favorable views of the bill were high among all age and income groups; and ditto for the belief that environmen
-71 percent favor the climate bill that was passed by the House of Representa
-67 percent think Congress is either “doing the right amount” or “should be doing more” to address global warming.
-51 percent think that “efforts to reduce global warming and promote clean energy” will lead to new job creation, and another 17 percent think the efforts will not affect American jobs at all. Less than one-third are worried the bill will cause job losses.
-Even Republican
Zogby released the results on Aug. 11, 2009
http://www
To me, Climate Change is a major problem, since we created it we can probably make at least a good dent in it.
Everything else doesn't matter.
I told you I stayed home Tuesday. I may stay home next year as well if my congressma
I am a core democrat, I've worked on campaigns much of my adult life.
I am active in trying to save a state park and combatting light pollution.
In 1984, I ran successful
vote was given to another candidate without my permission
I too stayed home on Tuesday.
I didn't want to bother with the judges...I mean realistica
And besides, I am not a lawyer and there are very few lawyers that I hold in high esteem.
And as for Township Supervisor
Being outsourced
It appears the Democratic leadership is more concerned with global warming legislatio
The recent Pew and Harris polls indicated that right now only 36% of the public think man-made global warming is real (compared to 47% one year ago). This means that only 36% think it is necessary to curb CO2 emissions, or worry about "greenhous
It is the Democratic leadership that is out of step with the public. The moderate democrats will have to decide whether they should stand with the people of their districts, or with the leadership
The poll you refer to was very interested but a bit incomplete when it comes to the political perspectiv
Some 56 percent of likely general-el
Seems pretty clear to me what the voters are on climate change.
A growing number of Americans think that there has been some global warming, but that it is simply caused by natural forces that have always impacted weather and climate. The view of this group is that the late 20th Century warming was a natural event, just as the stable global temperatur
That fact that CO2 emissions were higher during the first decade of the 21st Century, than during the last two decades of the 20th Century, and the fact that the earth stopped warming over the last decade, seems to seriously undercut the critical idea that CO2 increases are the cause when the earth warms.
64% of the public may recognize that some global warming occurred during the late 20th Century, but only 36% think that man-made global warming is real.
Until we get the environmen
Fix the problem.