Buck Up People... Progressives WON!
Part One of A Three Part Series...
No, I am not playing the popular elementary school game of Opposites Day. Its true. Progressives won in the 2010 mid-term elections.
As touching as it was to see Boehner choke up over the retelling of his hard-knock life story of having to be a waiter in his dad's bar, tears are not so attractive on the faces of Progressives this morning. Did we all miss the news flash? PROGRESSIVES WON! A significant exception is of course the tragic loss of Sen. Russ Feingold (WI) and the sad loss of prinicpled Representative Alan Grayson (FL). But, the Congressional Progressive Caucus, the largest caucus in the House Democratic Caucus at over 80 members, emerged virtually unscathed, losing only three members.
By constrast, the conservative Blue Dog Democratic caucus was more than sliced in half from 54 members to only 26. Further, of the 34 conservative Dems who voted against Obama's Healthcare Reform, a mere 12 won re-election.
Dead weight gone. Good Riddance. The blame for the stalemate to come can now fall squarely where it belongs... on the anti-progressive, anti-democratic, anti-populist Republican members of Congress.
Our work is now finally beginning. The veil of a happy Democratic governing majority is finally lifted. We didn't have it then; we don't have it now. But what we do have now is a more solidly progressive bunch of Dems and a President presumably less-encumbered by the false illusion that playing nice will get him a date with the other team.
Let's thank Grayson, Hall and Hare for their principled time in office. Let's get Feingold on the ticket as VP in 2012, let's throw our support unabashedly behind the Congressional Progressive Caucus and let's push Obama to finally do the right thing through as many Executive Orders as we can present to him.
People... Progressives WON!!! Republicans are all over the map, are a mess and won't be able to wreak the havoc they seek. We should be energized. We must be energized. Too much is at stake. The road ahead isn't so bad as long as we have the big picture and the fighting spirit spurring us on. Progressives will be the heroes in 2012. Let's make Obama one too.
Please see the next in this 3-Part Series: Who Gives A Rat's Rear End If Progressives on the Hill Won?
Karen writes in her personal capacity as a progressive political junky
Follow Karen Dolan on Twitter: www.twitter.com/karendolan
 |
 |
|
| Obama | Romney | |
|---|---|---|
| Electoral Votes (270 to win) |
332 | 206 |
| Obama | Romney | |
|---|---|---|
| Total | 65,899,660 | 60,932,152 |
| Percent | 51.1% | 47.2% |
| Democrats* | Republicans | |
|---|---|---|
| Current Senate | 53 | 47 |
| Seats gained or lost | +2 | -2 |
| New Total | 55 | 45 |
| Democrats | Republicans | |
|---|---|---|
| Seats won | 201 | 234 |
The Repub-led House will be a disaster and nothing will get done. People didn't even vote on the conservative agenda--they had a "kick the bums out" election.
Progressives need to please stop licking their wounds and blaming the Prez and mount a massive long-view campaign to get the message out. Today, tomorrow, and every day.
With the Blue Dogs gone, it is our chance to get moderate to liberal Dems ready for next time while we continue to let people know that only with the Dems will their interests be met--today AND tomorrow.
What say we start a Draft Feingold for VP in 2012 campaign??
Progressives really messed up when they allowed the destruction of ACORN. Don't do the same for NPR. Protect NPR and bolster it if possible.
Too bad Mr Grayson had a permanent facial expression which suggested he'd much rather kick the crap out of people than legislate - I think he scared voters.
And definitely GOOD RIDDANCE to the Blue Dogs, who tried to supply politics to people a step above the American Taliban - but not a large step. We are much better off without them (talking to you too, Evan Bayh!).
What is disheartening to me at the moment is - we want to supply smart government, and so many Americans are simply not very smart. If you can't see at a glance that huge corporations buying up all the politicians they need is a bad thing - or that twisting the Constitution to make it fit the Old Testament is stupid beyond belief - you're simply not going to "get" anything a Progressive has to say.
Someone on Olbermann tonight said this was an election where old voters came out in droves. Well - they are set in their ways - we're never going to convince them that Rick Scott is a sociopath, or that Obama is an American. But 2012 will be a young person's election, and the Old Testament-encrusted crud of the American Taliban is not going to sit well with them!
So we'll keep pushing and educating - see what happens!
I think the only emotions the Baggers use are fear and anger, which is why I really appreciated Colberts "counter-rally"!
And I think I get what you're saying - that it's not ALL about intellect - but the Repubs are infuriatingly fact free.
As for the Dem emotional message, "We don't want you to beg in the streets while Republicorp rolls naked in your money" is a pretty emotional message.
Thanks for your positive spirit, Karen - I'll be following your blogs with great interest!
I'm confused as to what this all means. Is there going to be another round of purging when voters figure out who the actual progressives are? Or were they already aware of that and punishing the Blue Dogs for acting like Republicans? Only time will tell.