OK, this is the election night open thread that you’ve been asking for…. So, if you’ve got comments or questions regarding today’s election, here’s the place to leave them…. God help us all….
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2010 midterm election results
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Harry Reid (D) is down by 3% in the Nevada Senate race, 48% to 45%
Bennett (D) up 3% in Colorado US Senate race. This is one of the top two key Senate races, so Democrats may have 52 seats or better when all is said and done.
Toomey (R) winning Senate race in Pennsylvania, 53% to 46% for Sestak (D).
Delaware US Senate: Coons (D) 58% to 41% for (not-a-witch) O’Donnell (R)
At 5:00pm turnout in Philladelphia is down 40% from 2008.
US Senate races:
Connecticut
Blumenthal (D) +8
Florida
Rubio (R) +21
Missouri
Blunt (R) +10
California
Boxer (D) +8
Illinois
Kirk (R) +6
Kentucky
Paul (R) +11
Nevada
NV–EVEN
Colorado
Bennet (D) +2
Pennsylvania
Toomey (R) +4
Washington
Murray (D) +6
West Virginia
Manchin (D) +7
Wisconsin
Johnson (R) +5
Appears to be funny business going on in Nevada as I predicted. Exit polls are now suddenly showing Reid gained 3% and is neck-in-neck with his GOP opponent at 48% each!
I predict Reid “wins” by a small handful of votes.
Walburg is up by less than 1 percentage point!!! There is one hour for the Dems to get out the vote and save that seat!!!
Close Congressional races early exit polls:
Indiana-02 – Donnelly (D) +3
Indiana-09 – Young (R) +3
Michigan-07 Walburg (R) +1
Kentucky-06 Chandler (D) +2
Georgia-02 Keown (R) +1
Virginia-09 Boucher (D) +2
Florida-22 West (R) +3
At least we now know that 41% of Delawarian voters are total morons.
North Carolina-02 Ellmers (R) +0.9
North Carolina-08 Johnson (R) +0.5!
North Carolina-07 McIntyre (D) +0.2!!!!!
Ohio-06 Wilson (D) +0.1
Ohio-15 Stivers (R) +8
Ohio-16 Renacci (R) +4
West Virginia-01 McKinley (R) +8
Michigan-09 Peters (D) +4
Michigan-01 Benishek (R) +8
Michigan-15 Dingell (D) +15
No big surprises declared yet. Rand Paul won Kentucky Senate seat and Coats won Indiana’s.
At 8:00pm EDT, Connecticut, Delaware and Maryland should be called pretty fast for the Democrats. South Dakota, New Hampshire, Alabama and Missouri should be called just as fast for the Republicans.
Polls in Michigan are now closed and many races should be called pretty fast.
Rick Snyder has been declared the winner of the Michigan Governor’s race.
Eight years ago tonight my mom died. She loved election results. It was almost the very last thing she said, “I can’t wait to go home and watch election results.” Morpid maybe but true.
The GOP has secured about 48 seats in the US Senate (give or take 1) and 230 in the US House (give or take up to 5).
Local US Representatives, Dingell (D) and McCotter (R) had no problem holding their seats in Congress. Peters (D) looks to have held onto his seat by just a few percentage points and Mark Schauer appears to have been just narrowly defeated. The vote counting in that one could go on for some time tonight.
I’m so mad about KY.
The senate race, not the lube.
Looks like the righties are up to it again:
“L.A. Latinos Told to Vote on Nov. 3; Watchdogs Cite Trouble Nation” (look it up, it will take Mark 50 years to approve this post)
Maybe the fraudsters in the Democratic party were just confused? Or may DR is just confused….
It doesn’t look like it did them much good. Boxer (D) doesn’t appear to have had any real trouble holding her seat and Brown (D) is the Governor once again.
The GOP candidate for West Virginia’s 3rd Congressional District, “Spike” Maynard appears to have narrowly lost in his bid for that seat.
Hey, how come Mark doesn’t have a cool nickname like his? I wanna start calling Mark, “Spike” Maynard.
It looks like the Democratic candidates for Michigan Attorney General and Secretary of State have lost their races as well.
Fucking Rand Paul.
Ok, I’m going to go put myself into a coma.
Any day when a guy like Feingold is voted out and a guy like Rand Paul is voted in, is just not a day you want to prolong.
How about Shaft Maynard? I don’t like Spike so much.
The good news is that now these lunatics get to share the blame for everything. I’m going to get up early tomorrow and start pinning everything that goes wrong on that “God damned Republican Congress!”
I’ll join you in that coma. This blows.
So the Michigan Dems lost the Attorney General and the Secretary of State? There’s no excuse for that.
I like “Shaft” Maynard too.
I was down in West Virginia last week and I thought about stealing one of “Spike” Maynard’s lawn signs and sticking in your yard for you to find.
The Feingold loss is huge. He’s the only guy who voted against the Patriot Act. He should be a fucking hero.
I’m getting another beer.
There just was no real coat-tails to ride at all. Layton and Benson were great candidates and the state would have been far better off with them in there than the do-nothing, self-serving, dipshits the GOP ran, and got in there.
So, other than Christine losing in Delaware, is there any other good news?
I hope Obamee has a good federal position to appoint Feingold to. Maybe just throw out one of the jackasses he already has in his cabinet to make room for him.
Other good news is that Governor Manchin in West Virginia managed to come back from looking like he might go down in his run for the US Senate seat there. He is a good score. Boxer’s win in California is good, just as is Brown’s.
Gary Peter’s win in Michigan is something to celebrate. That race looked touch and go for a while there.
A black man was spotted outside a polling place!
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/11/02/new-black-panther-spotted-philadelphia-polling-place/
I guess the people o Kentucky like the idea of segregated lunch counters.
http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/11/02/election.main/index.html?hpt=T1&iref=BN1
Rand Paul is going to help put this country back on track.
I like your scenario, Nate, but it doesn’t look like it’s happening.
http://fivethirtyeight.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/11/01/5-reasons-democrats-could-beat-the-polls-and-hold-the-house/
I’ve got to agree with you. When a country votes out Russ Feingold and votes in Rand Paul it’s doomed. I know that people might not want to admit it, but we’re doomed. Seriously. We are.
Okay so it’s looking like Dems still have the Senate and of course the executive branch, right? Can we only hope that the Rand Pauls screw it up so badly that Obama can just walk into a second term in two years?
On a more local front, I am beyond pissed that that Walburg guy won…I was waiting in line at the Manchester Chicken Broil when that motherfucker came ’round. He completely ignored me and I don’t know if it was cuz of my gender, teacher t-shirt or non-Christian religious symbol around my neck. Or maybe cuz he just sensed that I wanted to rip off his head and shit down his neck. Whatever it was, he made my skin crawl.
Hey I just saw on Twitter that someone, somewhere is projecting that Proposal 1 went down. That’s good. I’m happy about that.
Washtenaw County natural areas millage is losing at this time, no results on buses or libraries…
It’s wrong to want to smash things, right?
Yes, Prop 1 in Michigan was defeated pretty easily.
Seriously, it’s good that those GOP numbskulls got in. They don’t know their ass from a hole in the ground. They’re only going to make fools of themselves and piss off the voters even more.
Fred, not at all. As long as it’s your own stuff, it’s not a crime. Go for it.
Robert, okay that’s good. I may not vomit after all.
buses and libraries now winning by a wide margin. Natural areas millage creeping back up. city charter revision is only 5% margin between yes and no…
Our memories are so short these days. I blame television.
I feel really guilty now for being so against O’Donnell. If she were really a witch she would have used some of that ol’ black magic to win that senate race in Delaware.
Somebody go check on Mark and make sure he’s still breathing.
Um, there is only 1% difference in the city charter initiative, the no’s have it at this time. Open spaces have made a come back..
It’s sort of nice that all the GOP regulars to this blog are out celebrating with their friends and thus sparing us the usual annoyance of their stupid comments and opinions.
Bill O’Reilly made a crack yesterday that we should keep our kids away from MSNBC tomorrow as they may see the hosts committing suicide.
Democrats actually picked up a seat that is currently in GOP hands – Delaware Congressional District 1
Did I just hear on the radio that Dingell is trailing? Please tell me that’s a mistake.
No, Dingle is down by 11% with 8% reporting.
My guess is that EOS, Designated Republican and yTown are engaged in the circle jerk to end all circle jerks right about now.
Any updates on the Ypsi Township police millage yet?
This whole thing is going to become incredibly tangible to people if Dingell loses. I had my issues with the man, but, all things considered, he was a good leader. I’ll be sorry to see him go.
Sestak is up by 4% in Pennsylvania. That’s something to be thankful for.
Mark are you drunk?
Don’t get too excited, about Sestak, Mark. He lost. The official count just hasn’t shown that out yet.
Dingell didn’t lose, Mark. He won with something like a 15% margin.
I keep drinking, but the pain won’t stop. I’m just disappointed in my fellow Americans.
A lot of really good moderates lost today. That is the worst part of it. There are easily 70 Democrats in Congress I would have liked to see kicked out. But most of the ones who lost today were really pretty bright and sane people, not the assholes you so often find occupying really safe seats.
I realize it’s only 10:13, but it’s midnight somewhere…I’m going to bed. Maybe when I wake up tomorrow, it’ll all have been a dream…?
Here are a few races you should keep an eye on if you want good news, Mark. Watch how Illinois District 10 and Louisiana District 2 play out. They are both currently GOP seats which Democrats may very well snatch from them. There is also one in Hawaii, District 1, which Democrats may take away from the GOP, but that will likely not be all counted up until tomorrow morning.
I just watched the Christine O’Donnell concession speech and it cheered my up a little.
http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/breaking/Video_Christine_O_Donnell_Concession_Speech_Philadelphia-106576473.html
Rand Paul will turn this country around. I envision great things for the future. No taxes. No schools. No libraries. Just us spending out freewheeling money on whatever the fuck we want.
No more fucking parents. No fucking EPA telling me I can’t dump shit in the river. No fucking patent office to keep track of the shit I make in my garage. Just fucking guns and fucking Jesus and ALL THE FUCKING MONEY I CAN FUCKING STAND BECAUSE THOSE FUCKING BULLSHIT SCHOOLS ARE FUCKING GONE AND THOSE LIBRARIES AND THOSE FUCKING HOMOSEXUALS AND BLACK PEOPLE. FUCK!!!!!!!!!!!
I propose a gay tax, where every act of gayness is taxed. Glee viewership alone will pay for 20 new nuclear warheads.
It was expected, but Jeff Irwin, Rebekah Warren and Rick Snyder all won their races.
The GOP may have really fucked up in Colorado. They could have taken control of both the Governor’s office and the US Senate seat. That Tea Party shit fucked all that up and now they might not get either of them.
AA.com is live blogging too. Ours is better, though.
http://www.annarbor.com/news/live-chat-8-pm-with-annarborcom-newsroom-lead-blogger-ed-vielmetti-to-discuss-election-results/
California polls close in 30 minutes and then listen to the assholes on Fox whine. Republicans didn’t do too well out there.
Right now we are revising our city charter by about 50 votes…
Because it bears repeating:
I’m starting to think I was right when I predicted that something fishy might go down in the Illinois and Pennsylvania races. The results that are coming in are not what the exit polls showed.
I’ll be happy if Sestak wins, but I won’t completely trust that it didn’t have something to do with the electronic voting systems they still haven’t done anything to certify.
I guess it is possible that GOTV operations in Philly and Chicago could have shifted into high gear after the 5pm exit poll reports. I just never heard anything about heavy turnout late in those cities. It would have had to have been pretty impressive to make up the ground they were down at 5pm.
So, with only one precinct remaining, it looks like we’ll be rivising our city charter.
Did Rick Snyder just say he had a “bald vision” for Michigan’s future?
I just read this twitter post on the cover of The Huffington Post:
“And, BTW, f*ck you Michigan. We pulled your sorry asses out of the fire with the auto bailout & you vote Republican?”
I think a lot of Democrats have broken their leases and moved out of Michigan for jobs in Chicago and Atlanta.
Dian Slavens (D) defeated Lori Levi (R) in the Michigan 21st State Representative District. That was quite a win.
It’s hard to believe that Michigan’s government is going to be stuffed with even dumber people now. This is going to be a mess.
I think the bar I am in is trying to get me to leave. They’re changing the channels from news shows to replays of yesterday’s World Series game.
And we’re revising our city charter. This should be interesting.
Well, at least Rick Snyder was the Republican who won. It could have been MUCH worse – remember the other candidates? Now, if anyone knows him and can talk to him about his support for coal plants (??? so 1980’s…) that would be great.
‘Well, at least Rick Snyder was the Republican who won. It could have been MUCH worse – remember the other candidates?’
Probably, and I get your point. But really, how do we know? The guy said absolutely NOTHING of substance the entire campaign. Has such a lightweight ever cakewalked to the govs mansion before? Anyone who is convinced that Palin is not electable should think again after tonight.
What a sad night. Virg was creamed along with the rest of them. Snyder bought his way into the governor’s mansion and we’ll see in four years how well that’s worked out for Michigan…
GG, thanks for that. And thanks a whole bunch of you. Peter, in this Randy new world without safety nets, there will be still eye exams (charged to the federal government) at least?
I’m very grateful that Angle has been hushed. Oh, I forgot, she wouldn’t say anything. Well, I’m glad Nevadans said no way.
Re. Michigan’s new governor–it’s going to take special patience (special earplugs) even to listen to that truly uninspiring voice . . . I don’t know if TV’s behind people’s short-term memory problems–willful devotion to blindspots and a weakness for self-sabotage? One minute they’re driving monster-sized vehicles and turning vast swaths of land into big houses, the next they’re cursing government for letting them live like that (and for not making sure they keep living like that). Meanwhile, there is a guy from Wisconsin who through all sorts of horribleness brought brilliance, independence, toughness, real majesty, to our government–a little shy in front of cameras, as on Jon Stewart’s show, but fiery and powerfully smart on the Senate floor. Vital. Senator Feingold. (Time to cry!)
I always look forward to reading your comments, Oliva. They cheer me up.
I liked this comment on the Feingold loss: “It’s official, Russ Feingold, the only senator to vote against the Patriot Act, just got beaten by a high school drop out who spent 8.2 million of his wife’s money to get elected. The idiocracy dawns.“
I can’t wait to get my free Kentucky eye exam.
I really don’t know what to say. The next decade is going to be a disaster.
Democrats actually have a lot to be happy about today. The damage could have been much, much worse, and would have been had the GOP not been so messed up. You can thank the stupidity and disarray of the Republican Party for their failure to get 10 seats in the US Senate and over 80 in the House. That is what they would have gotten had they not fumbled at so many points in the process. The Tea Party screwed up several of what would have been easy gains for them.
The GOP in Colorado for instance is having maybe it’s worst day in history, having fucked up their almost inevitable retaking of the Governorship and the US Senate seat there. Many more of their candidates down the ballot suffered as a result as well.
In California, the GOP spent huge amounts of money to almost no avail. 160 million was spent on trying to unseat Senator Boxer alone, and she survived it easily. Jerry Brown also came back from being down in the polls to a somewhat comfortable win.
“Kentucky Eye Exam” sounds like a euphemism for something pretty scary, Peter.
The Republican Party has completely taken over state government in Michigan. They not only won the Governor’s seat, but they also took over the State House of Representatives and secured a super-majority in the State Senate. In addition to that, the GOP held control of the offices of Secretary of State and of the Attorney General. They took away majority control of the State Supreme Court in addition to all that. I haven’t checked the numbers, but I am willing to bet all their candidates for the three state-wide university boards won as well. Did I forget anything? The GOP fucking OWNS this state now.
The best news in Michigan may be that Gary Peters (D) appears to have just barely hung on to his Congressional seat up in Oakland County. It would have been a terrible thing if he were replaced by that jackass “Rocky.”
I know it may sound strange, but I am actually sort of relieved to see the Democrats lost the US Senate races in Illinois and Pennsylvania. I saw the exit polls from earlier and the GOP had good leads. I was worried that those two might get rigged. Now it looks pretty clear that they weren’t.
How about that Nevada Senate race though? That sure did have a huge swing in Reid’s favor late in the day. I have to check into what happened after 2pm out there. The exit polls showed Reid down by 3% and then suddenly they changed that number to make it even at 48%/48%. The official result ended up being 5.6% in Reid’s favor. That was either one hell of an afternoon GOTV effort in the high Dem areas, or something very fishy went down. A swing of nearly 9% in 6 hours is pretty significant. I wouldn’t say it is completely out of the realm of possibility that it’s legit though, since Nevada really has a much smaller population to be dealing with compared to most states. Most of that population is pretty concentrated in Las Vegas and Reno, and the Democratic votes are probably even more concentrated in very particular areas of those population centers.
Still, I just have to find some Democratic campaign staff in Nevada and ask them what happened. I’m dying to know.
Oh know! What ever shall you do?
@ytown: What shall who do, and about what?
“Oh know”? Is it now cool to be stupid?
How ironic … now *I* want my country back.
Andy C, I guess you will be the coolest. Enjoy your day of mourning.
Robert, you are the man, always a witty comeback!
I will be administering “Kentucky Eye Exams” at the Hot Spot in Inkster tonight, starting at 9:00 PM. I’ll be in the last stall.
Dingell was only up by 9,000 votes the last I heard.
Good conversation over on Reddit.
“America is like the girl that keeps getting back together with that abusive moron everyone hates.”
http://www.reddit.com/r/reddit.com/comments/e0kt8/america_is_like_the_girl_that_keeps_getting_back/
I like how you can’t buy yourself a governorship in California, but you can buy one here. That’s the Michigan Difference.
“The Republican Party has completely taken over state government in Michigan.”
So, what are they going to cook? Is there a plan? Will they ban abortion? Will they privatize our schools? Cut taxes for the rich? I’m trying to imagine what will soon come. Any ideas?
I love this description of Feingold’s loss/Johnson’s victory: “Populist Dissatisfaction with Economy Hands Senate Seat to Millionaire Dilettante” (source
The anti-abortion (read: forced birth) laws are still on the books in MI; only Roe v. Wade keeps it legal.
Schools are screwed though…I’m sure they’ll lift the cap on charter schools. Because this state is so flooded with unemployed teachers, they will get good teachers at rock bottom prices, no benefits. Since I’m a special ed teacher, and since charter schools don’t usually take special ed students (well, at least after Count Day they don’t), I’m probably okay. I hope.
Please write your representatives, whomever they may be, and tell them how you feel.
Ytown, I don’t know if you’re joking, but what I said wasn’t meant as a comeback of any sort. I genuinely was asking you to clarify what you meant by your previous comment. That’s all.
In 2008, Obama ran on the promise of “change,” and surprisingly, many people (including me) believed him.
However, after winning commanding majorities in both houses of Congress, and an unmistakable mandate to undertake truly transformational policy reforms, the new President made the critical mistake of surrounding himself with establishment insiders like Rahm Emanuel and Wall Street/Goldman Sachs apologists like Larry Summers and Timothy Geithner, and spent too much time trying to win the favor of non-Democrat Democrats, like the “Blue Dogs” and Joe Lie-berman — all of whom spent the next two years working overtime to temper any kind of truly transformational reform, in favor of “moderation” and “bi-partisanship.”
The result was a catastrophe: Zero accountability for the investment banksters and mortgage swindlers who caused the financial meltdown; Doubling-down on the war in Afghanistan; A healthcare “reform” bill that mostly amounts to a profit bonanza for private insurance companies; Continuing and even expanding Bush-era domestic spying, and other civil liberties nightmares; and no progress whatsoever on Climate Change, Immigration Reform, Tax Reform, Fair Trade, Card Check, DADT, Guantanamo, etc.
Meanwhile, where Obama did do a few things right on the economic front — for instance, working to save the domestic auto industry and passing the economic stimulus “Recovery” act … these efforts (despite warnings to the contrary, at the time) simply weren’t big or ambitious enough to stop the economic free-fall, thus allowing growing millions of Americans continue losing their homes, jobs, pensions — and hopes for a better future for themselves and for their families. Meanwhile, Obama frequently has appeared to be curiously disengaged from the fact that “JOBS, JOBS, JOBS” is, and always has been the #1 election issue going into 2010.
The result is that Obama squandered the opportunity of a lifetime for Democrats to make (and claim credit for) real change — while emboldening, and somehow “legitimizing” the extreme Tea Party tendencies of the Republican far right — which features climate deniers, “birthers,” gun-nuts, and anti-tax, anti-government, anti-education, anti-progress zealots taking their place within the political mainstream.
And yet — not a week after the election — I’m already hearing key leaders talking about how the election results mean that voters expect more “moderation,” “compromise,” and “moving to the center” from the Democrats.
When will we ever learn?
Wow, Glen S, well said.
“after winning commanding majorities in both houses of Congress”
Al Franken himself likes to remind Dems that his victory was contested for months, leaving the Senate seat unfilled. And the 60 votes needed BS really hurt Dems. Just worth keeping in mind. Remember Judd Gregg was going to be part of the Obama administration but then turned sharply, churlishly against it. And so on . . .
Glen S’s post is articulate and valuable, but almost every recounting of “what happened” has loose pieces, as forces like Limbaugh and monumental structural changes and 30 years of Americans accruing all sorts of unearned self-entitlement, etc., really are making these ludicrous times. It’s tricky looking at this torn country, seeing some obvious fraying and damage, and trying to say it was this rip or tear that was most responsible, and trying to find the right color, texture, etc., of fabric to fix all the damaged places is such a fight. My sewing metaphor breaks down because . . . we are really meant to be two countries? Well, it’s such a different country than even in the 1970s. We are full-on bamboozlement at this point–when the #1 Wall Street connected member of the House can blubber about “the American people” and be believed, be handed serious power . . .
It’s just too easy to blame Obama for our sicknesses and clearly not a complete explanation. Very complicated stuff but so simple–ask a person near you if Obama has already raised his or her taxes, and you will almost undoubtedly hear Yes–or that he’s about to. So many sturdily held misconceptions, it’s very frustrating. And Dems would do themselves a favor by linking voting with patriotism (and self-love). I wish a really appealing marketer would start producing all sorts of “Voting is patriotic” and “Voting is sexy” merchandise soon, so it can saturate our stores and consciousness well ahead of 2012. (But maybe stay away from “sexy,” as that’s Palin’s schtick, and she really might run. Hmmm . . .)
Sounds like an apology to me Olivia.
To match GOP tactics, the “Voting is . . .” merchandise would more effectively say “Don’t Vote? Go to Jail,” and the like.
citywatch, not sure what you’re saying.
It’s probably not hyperbole to call all sorts of things “catastrophe” at this time, but it does simplify in not always helpful ways. Many would have said “catastrophe” characterized where we were at before the 2008 election. Some would say that to have a president who insists on civility even when those opposing him will do whatever it takes to “see him fail” is a catastrophe. Some would look at this decision and that one and say catastrophe but resist giving equal weight to some very important other decisions.
There’s a new book out called Being Wrong: Adventures in the Margin of Error; in an interview about the book the author, Kathryn Schultz, praises uncertainty and points out that very few of us are really at the hub of knowing about most things, that we rely on others (whom we trust, whom we accept as knowledgeable in a given area, etc.) to tell us much of what we think we know, and those people in turn are relying on someone else’s “knowledge.” That if we really peel away all the noise in and around us, we are left humbly here knowing a modest amount about most things–but as humans we deeply like feeling certain and that we’re right. Publisher’s description c/o Powell’s:
Olivia,
I’ll stand by what I said: Obama and much of the party leadership (with, perhaps, the notable exception of Nancy Pelosi) turned a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to demonstrate to the overwhelming majority of poor, working-class, and middle-class Americans that the Democratic Party was actually on THEIR side in the fight what’s left of the American Dream (a decent job, affordable healthcare, home ownership, a secure retirement, etc.) — rather than jut another party in bed with to-big-to-fail banks, insurance companies, and Wall Street, etc.
Their failure to do so, and the resulting rise of angry “Tea Party” mobs (as well as last week’s “shellacking”) is, I think, proof positive that, at least politically, the last two years have been a “catastrophe.”
No offense Olivia, but I feel that if we are going to head off a similar defeat in 2012 (with Democrats perhaps losing both the the White House AND the Senate), we should spend less time “exploring the nature of wrongness,” and instead focus on a sober assessment of what (and who) exactly went wrong over the past two years — in order to change course, and to try to head off our country’s headlong slide into right-wing fanaticism.
Ted,
What’s a circle jerk?
Imagine what you and I would do if we met G Gordon Liddy and virile, young Pat Buchanan in a D.C. sauna during the height of the Nixon administration. That’s called a circle jerk.
The guy in the middle, as I recall, is called The Gipper.
John Galt, who are you?
I think one way in which we’ve been wrong is too much pooh-poohing the racist ugliness that stubbornly hangs on, is so rampant. All the “don’t call that racist” efforts undermine what many of us see and hear too plainly since our 44th prez took office. It takes so many shapes, from goofy “jokes” to scarier gestures and statements. All of it is depressing. People say, “Well, I’d rather see it than let it stay hidden.” A really depressing part is just how much of it there is when it feels free to come out. (Really, Joe Wilson was reelected? What a time we’re living in. So ugly. BUT if enough people see it, stand up to it, we’ll get better.)
Much of the misinformation about Obama being a non-citizen, a socialist, a Muslim, etc., was spread on the internet like wildfire among racists, the ignorant, and various varieties of crackpots … but the original “evidence” for these claims almost certainly was manufactured by relatively well-educated, well-paid people working in right-wing think-tanks.
So, just to be clear: While I am angry and disappointed at the President and the Democratic leadership in many ways, and think there are many valid policy and strategy reasons to criticize his first two years — there also is NO question that Obama has faced, since the day he took office, a shameful and unprecedented campaign to discredit his presidency and his person — and I have no illusion about how the combined efforts of the “I want my country back!” crowd served to undermine President Obama’s best efforts, and distract him every step of the way.
I appreciate your comments a lot, Glen S. To care is a huge thing, and your caring shows in your many thoughtful comments. I admit I’d read John G’s offensive (meant in jest maybe, meant to provoke?) comment about Michelle Obama and ribs in a separate post, and my response carried some of the hurt that so much of this ugliness has been unleashed these past few years and is now in ways commonplace, even acceptable. It’s like we have tainted stew–we are a tainted stew! There are wonderful elements to it, excellent spices and nuggets of tasty things, but there’s also poison–whether traces of it or big heaping spoonfuls, it touches the rest and taints it. But it seems to be heaping spoonfuls.
I wonder if we’d had someone like Kerry or Dukakis as the Dem candidate in 2008–would McCain have won, or would Dems and Independents have made sure not. And if so, would people who’d voted for this Kerry or Dukakis be so angry at being let down if the prez managed to do half the things Obama’s done? I know there’s not an easy answer because it’s all hypothetical and questions of how they’d have responded to the recession or the goal of health care reform are unknown, but my gut says voters would have made sure McCain (or any Republican) didn’t win, especially if Palin was in the picture. That it was instead Obama, with that lofty hope message and the fact of his race in a country such as ours, well, not sure how to finish my sentence. I just think anger is widespread, and anger is a lousy informer. I want this all to get much better–it’s frustrating because while the economy still aches and stalls, there’s the raw anger and frustration factor, which means many people can’t think out of wisdom or good sense but mostly react to unpleasant facts and circumstances and rotten feelings.
Probably the simplest take on all this, but what it seems like is that Obama pledged to work across the aisle, reignite civility, etc., so the Republicans saw the way to stop him at the gate was to make sure there was no cooperation, no civility, and voila. And it was a cagey move on their part, as a whole lot of Dem voters never wanted him to “reach across the aisle”–Independents did–so they’ve been angry from the start that he wasted so much time and votes trying to “change the tone.” Thinking back about Judd Gregg, he had accepted the cabinet position and then in a matter of days pulled out, and then as senator he was one of the more hostile obstructionist Republicans. It was hard to watch him speak because of the seething anger. What happened in a few short days to make him go from cooperator to chastiser? That stated plan to “see Obama fail,” uttered early by Limbaugh and now cravenly, unapologetically, by McConnell and others . . . it’s so despicable. But knowing this doesn’t fix a thing, ugh. What will?
Michael Tomasky pointed out in an article that as progressives, we’re *supposed* to be disappointed. If we’re not, then we’re not pushing Obama and Congress. I am much less freaked out by ugliness in civil discourse (which isn’t going away) than by widespread and growing inequality. I don’t care if people are nicer. I want someone to fight for those who are most victimized by this economy. I think the mid-terms show that you can’t take those new Obama voters for granted. You can’t preach pragmatism to them, or chastise them for not being patient enough, tell them they’re naive and don’t understand our system. Or you can. They did. And in Michigan alone those voters stayed home. By the logic I’ve heard most often, the Blue Dogs should have cleaned up. But they didn’t.
Well, I do prefer kindness and all that, but as far as “civility” goes, remember that Rudi G. was praised for reestablishing civility in NYC, although all the while residents there said he did it by beefing up police powers, forcing homeless people away, and such. He’s hardly a reflection of civility, yet he managed to secure that label. I understand that some Dem “leaders” value integrity more than raw power and that voters get fed up by this equation. I never want a Cheney as a Dem leader–that demonic love of power is the creepiest thing. But you have a man like Feingold, full of integrity and a special kind of raw power–for retaining a principled stand and pushing it with all he’s got, for valuing intelligence and clear thinking. I wish there were many more Feingolds in Congress and all around. But his insistence on integrity cost him his seat–he resisted almost all outside money, bless him, but it meant in our crooked system (of scared selfish children, to borrow from a different post) that we lost an incredibly important member of the Senate (whose personal values match his leadership approach).
When I talk about “not nice” and “mean,” the labels stand for a wider meaning because inequality comes from a very mean piece of humanity, brutish and brutal. But I do think it’s hard to get toward real equality–income, racial, and more–while all sorts of people are tossed in a group together and then belittled on a regular basis, whether it be by social status, skin color, sex . . . I do think that awareness is an excellent first step toward most things, and I think that deep forces of inequality show up in supposedly harmless quips and bruising ideas that get tolerated when why not let them remain “unacceptable”?