As promised, we're finishing our 2010 pre-election commentary today with a look at things from the political left. If you missed our look at the race from the saner side of the political right, check out yesterday's Daily Commentary - AFTER you GO VOTE.
Contrary to the screaming "political pundit perpetual panic conflictinators" on cable TV, election day doesn't look nearly as bad as it could be for the Democratic Party.
We're under no delusions. The Democrats will likely lose the majority in the House of Representatives, and hold onto a slim majority in the U.S. Senate. As we said yesterday, it's a mid-term election. A swing back in the opposite direction is normal after the landslide win by Democrats two years ago.
Are some of us disappointed in the likely results of today's elections? Sure - although we and many others think it will likely be later in the week, or possibly later in the month before the results are 100% final. But the results of today's voting will not, in any serious way, prove to be a referendum on the policies of the Obama Administration.
Even Senate Minority leader McConnell admitted Monday that "there is no poll data showing the public is in love with [Republicans]." If ever there was an understatement, that is it.
Looking at REGISTERED voters across the country, Americans favor Democrats and Democratic-backed progressive ideas by small but sizable margins of around five percent. The idea that there has been too much of a "liberal overreach" by one of the more moderate progressive Democratic leaders in recent history is not only laughable, but provably wrong.
There are FAR more Democrats angry that the President's policies weren't bigger, more progressive and more effective than they were.
The Stimulus was a perfect example of this. Every economist worth spit has said that the stimulus did, in fact, work. Some of the best have made the case that it should have been much larger. Writer Kevin Drum makes the observation that throughout history, the most progressive - and most popular - government programs like those of the New Deal and Great Society eras, have happened in very short bursts of time.
As we also pointed out yesterday, even if Republicans win the House, as they're likely to do, fulfilling their promises of getting rid of health care insurance reform and eliminating controls of Wall Street will be nearly impossible.
No matter who wins today - or whenever the elections are finally finished with being recounted and sued over - the facts will likely be what we've predicted before. There will be very slim majorities for either party in the House and Senate, and in most state races too.
When it's all said and done, our President - the President of ALL Americans - will still be Barack Obama.
And the sun will come out on Wednesday, no matter who wins.
Now if you still haven't gotten around to it, go vote.
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Friday Funday: One More Plea For Sanity
Friday is the day for fun, slightly less politically oriented commentaries around here. After the week - or really, the election season - we've all had around here, we could definitely do with a dose of unity and positivity. Yet that message hasn't seemed to have gotten through to everyone. While the President has communicated he's willing to compromise and work WITH Republicans, Republican congressional leadership seems to be telling Obama to... do offensive things to himself. We thought it might be good to take one more last look at the real message from last weekend's "Rally for Sanity and/or Fear" with Jon Stewart.
Our staff who were at the rally had a lot of fun - and saw a lot of crazy signs. More importantly, we think Mr. Stewart's message is even more important now than it was before the election.
All of us agree with most of what Jon Stewart said in his closing speech. So we've clipped out what we think are the most important parts, and we'll let his message take you into this weekend.
"We live now in hard times - but NOT end times. We can have animus, and not be enemies. Unfortunately, one of our main tools in delineating the two broke.
This country's 24-hour, political pundit perpetual panic conflictinator did not cause our problems, but its existence makes solving them that much harder. The press can hold its magnifying glass up to our problems, bringing them into focus, illuminating issues heretofore unseen. Or they can use that magnifying glass to light ants on fire, and then perhaps host a week of shows on the dangerous, unexpected flaming ants epidemic. If we amplify everything, we hear nothing....
The press is our immune system. If it overreacts to everything, we actually get sicker... yet - I feel good. Strangely, calmly, good. Because the image of Americans that is reflected back to us by our political and media process is false...
We hear every damned day about how fragile our country is, on the brink of catastrophe, torn by polarizing hate, and how it's a shame that we can't work together to get things done. The truth is, we do! We work together to get things done - Every. Damned. Day! The only place we don't is here [Congress] or on cable TV! But Americans don't live here, or on cable TV. Where we live, our values and principles form the foundation that sustains us while we get things done--not the barriers that prevent us from getting things done.
[Like cars going into the Holland Tunnel]... this is us. Every one of [those cars] is filled with individuals of strong belief and principles they hold dear--often principles and beliefs in direct opposition to their fellow travelers'. And yet, these millions of cars must somehow find a way to squeeze, one by one, into a mile-long, 30-foot-wide tunnel, carved underneath a mighty river.
And they do it, concession by concession: you go, then I'll go. You go, then I'll go... [It works] Because we know, instinctively, as a people, that if we are to get through the darkness and back into the light, we have to work together. And the truth is there will always be darkness. And sometimes, the light at the end of the tunnel isn't the promised land.
Sometimes, it's just New Jersey. But we do it anyway, together."
Our staff who were at the rally had a lot of fun - and saw a lot of crazy signs. More importantly, we think Mr. Stewart's message is even more important now than it was before the election.
All of us agree with most of what Jon Stewart said in his closing speech. So we've clipped out what we think are the most important parts, and we'll let his message take you into this weekend.
"We live now in hard times - but NOT end times. We can have animus, and not be enemies. Unfortunately, one of our main tools in delineating the two broke.
This country's 24-hour, political pundit perpetual panic conflictinator did not cause our problems, but its existence makes solving them that much harder. The press can hold its magnifying glass up to our problems, bringing them into focus, illuminating issues heretofore unseen. Or they can use that magnifying glass to light ants on fire, and then perhaps host a week of shows on the dangerous, unexpected flaming ants epidemic. If we amplify everything, we hear nothing....
The press is our immune system. If it overreacts to everything, we actually get sicker... yet - I feel good. Strangely, calmly, good. Because the image of Americans that is reflected back to us by our political and media process is false...
We hear every damned day about how fragile our country is, on the brink of catastrophe, torn by polarizing hate, and how it's a shame that we can't work together to get things done. The truth is, we do! We work together to get things done - Every. Damned. Day! The only place we don't is here [Congress] or on cable TV! But Americans don't live here, or on cable TV. Where we live, our values and principles form the foundation that sustains us while we get things done--not the barriers that prevent us from getting things done.
[Like cars going into the Holland Tunnel]... this is us. Every one of [those cars] is filled with individuals of strong belief and principles they hold dear--often principles and beliefs in direct opposition to their fellow travelers'. And yet, these millions of cars must somehow find a way to squeeze, one by one, into a mile-long, 30-foot-wide tunnel, carved underneath a mighty river.
And they do it, concession by concession: you go, then I'll go. You go, then I'll go... [It works] Because we know, instinctively, as a people, that if we are to get through the darkness and back into the light, we have to work together. And the truth is there will always be darkness. And sometimes, the light at the end of the tunnel isn't the promised land.
Sometimes, it's just New Jersey. But we do it anyway, together."
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