SCATTERED THOUGHTS
- Hey, remember that time that vulnerable Democrats in the House risked their constituencies to vote for Cap and Trade? Yeah, last night they got their asses handed to them on a platter. And they didn't even get Cap and Trade out of it. At the very least, Joe Manchin managed to make it out of West Virginia
- One good thing about losing seats, by the way, is losing people on your own team you've never liked. Blanche Lincoln and Alan Grayson land on my list of "people I'm not sad to see go:"
The Daily Show With Jon Stewart Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c Indecision 2010 - Taliban Dan & Boo-Gate Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Rally to Restore Sanity - Ugh. Thanks to Obama appointing a very popular Democrat to be in his cabinet -- which in turn is due to Tom Daschle being kind of corrupt --we're going to have to put up with at least four more years of Sam Brownback. Forgot who he is? Here's a taste:
The Daily Show With Jon Stewart Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c Headlines - War on Terrorble Diseases Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Rally to Restore Sanity - Nice things about this evening: our one Congressional Muslim won re-election with 70% of the vote! Yay Minnesota!
- The election unfolds pretty slowly when you're watching it by hitting "Refresh" on the New York Times results. Every time I check the my Google Reader, they're saying that they've basically called Congress, said that Harry Reid has lost, and are forecasting that Obama will squish a hamster within the hour or something. NYTimes takes their sweet time.
- Vitter proves again that you can have sex with prostitutes and stay in power, so long as you don't back down. Your Vitter recap:
The Daily Show With Jon Stewart Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c Louisiana Po' Boy Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Rally to Restore Sanity - At work, one of my co-workers is bemoaning Carl Paladino's loss. Oh, and griping about Obama's missing Birth Certificate.
- Biggest tragedy of the night: it looks like Russ Feingold (who I eulogized here) didn't make it.
- There is also the occasional Republican/Independent winner who I'm happy about. For instance, I like Lincoln Chafee a lot, and he won Governor of Rhode Island as an Independent. Who is he? Here:
The Daily Show With Jon Stewart Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c Lincoln Chafee Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Rally to Restore Sanity
OVERALL THOUGHTS
Looking at the big map, I have to say, although the big-picture loss for the Democrats is tough, I really can't find a lot of names I'm sad to see go. In the House, we lost Democratic seats like Bart Stupak's (of "Health Care Bill will not go to abortion" fame); in the Senate we lost Feingold (which is upsetting), but mostly it was open seats that went Republican.
Does this mean bad things will happen in the next two years, if you're a liberal? No. With a divided Congress and a liberal-leaning President, no, not really. This isn't 2004-2006, with Republicans running wild across the hill-tops. It just isn't 2008-2010, where Democrats had (mostly) unfettered access to the halls of power.
So what's going to happen? Nothing. A lot, a lot of nothing. Obama will continue to use his executive power cautiously but positively, Republicans will basically shut down Congress, and Americans will get roundly sick of both of them.
I'm kind of strangely zen about that option.
It isn't as though our government as a whole will be shutting down. We still have an independent executive with some powers. Particularly, if we want more economic aid, the Federal Reserve has been more active than the Obama Administration even before the coming freeze. We just won't be seeing some of the changes in law that we want/need. But then, were we seeing it before the election?
WHAT NEXT?
That's coming in an upcoming post.
