Shooing the Blue Dogs and other mad dogs.
One more thought about the election of 2010. The win of the Republicans took place mostly in the suburbs that swung from Republican to Democrat in 2006 in disgust over Bush. Tuesday's election's big losers were mostly the so called blue dog Democrats who made everything progressives and Obama did difficult. They often shared with Republicans the ties to corporations and special interests. So I would say one major message from the election is a rejection of tepid, milquetoast caving to the hard nosed positions of Republicans. Commentators have laughed at the absurdity of thinking that independents voted Republican because Democrats were not far Left enough. That may seem like a paradox, but the fact is, the youth vote and the minority vote were seriously lacking in this election and it was their high percentages that swept Obama and Democrats to historic power in 2008. Note too that in many state-wide races the Democratic strongholds held, keeping the West Coast progressive-- in California, Oregon, Washington and even Nevada-- as well as in New York, Connecticut, Maryland, and other Eastern bastions of Liberalism.
In my view, the way to energize those millions of progressive, young, minority voters is to be tough, to fight for progressive reform with more fervor than ever. You cannot compromise with evil- so said Rush Limbaugh in the most damning irony of the campaign. So, let's get on with our quest for equality in this country, with the freedom we can believe in: freedom to marry for all, freedom to serve in the armed forces, if we so choose, freedom to earn a good wage when we work, freedom to have health care when we are ill, freedom from pollution and corruption, freedom for the entire planet to be healthy, clean, and peaceful. Finally, we should stand for the freedom of as many people as possible to find happiness-- the cornerstone of John Locke's and Thomas Jefferson's philosophy.
{ Read: Life Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness (click)}
{ Read: Life Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness (click)}
Jack
11/6/10
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