We won
By Mustang Bobby
It was a huge win. More than just the re-election of Barack Obama, voters approved marriage equality in two states and legalized marijuana for recreational use in two. Wisconsin also elected the first openly gay senator.
In races all across the country, hardcore right-winger issues and candidates lost, replaced by moderate and progressive candidates. The Tea Party basically got their clocks cleaned, if not in body, then in spirit, and what happened in 2010 with the lurch to the right has been shown to be an outlier.
And it also showed that despite all the efforts of rich men who believed that America's elections and electorate could be bought and paid for, money cannot buy you everything or win elections. Neither can fearmongering, racism, and hatred based on ignorance and the mistaken idea that it's easier to scare the voters than convince them of the rightness of their cause. The vote margin may be narrow, but the victory against small-minded and cynical manipulators is huge.
It's important to be magnanimous and humble in victory, but it's also important to make it clear to those who tried to destroy Barack Obama and his party rather than just win that their style of politics and division is rejected and that they need to find another line of work. Or, to be blunt, to Karl Rove, Grover Norquist, Ralph Reed, Sheldon Adelson, the Koch Brothers, and all the rest of you evil trolls who would rather pollute America's politics with your bile than win an election fair and square -- we say get the hell out. We don't want your shit here.
There are times when the electorate can be maddening, short-sighted, fearful, and cruel. But on Tuesday they — we — proved that we can reject the politics of fear and division. It's not going to be Happy Gumdrop Fairy-Tale Land, but it's better than the country we could have awakened to yesterday morning with money and demagoguery the victors and the rest of us wondering what happened to the country that was supposed to be for all of us.
**********
Here are a some other notes from the election:
Here in Florida, Rep. Allen West (R), best known for his outrageous comments and incendiary rhetoric, lost to Patrick Murphy, and Joe Garcia (D) beat Rep. David Rivera (R), who is under criminal investigation. Also, eight of the eleven amendments to the state constitution were rejected, including a massive property tax overhaul, abortion restrictions and a "religious freedom" proposal that would basically have violated the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. There was also good news for the schools of Miami-Dade County; voters approved the $1.2 billion bond issue to repair and improve the schools' infrastructure. True to form, the state is still too close to call in the presidential race, but at least it doesn't matter in the overall picture.
In Ohio, Joe the Plumber is looking for work after losing badly to Marcy Kaptur (D).
There's a lot more news out there, and I'll be back later to wrap up more of it. In the meantime, savor the wins, deal with the losses, and keep on going.
(Cross-posted at Bark Bark Woof Woof.)
It was a huge win. More than just the re-election of Barack Obama, voters approved marriage equality in two states and legalized marijuana for recreational use in two. Wisconsin also elected the first openly gay senator.
In races all across the country, hardcore right-winger issues and candidates lost, replaced by moderate and progressive candidates. The Tea Party basically got their clocks cleaned, if not in body, then in spirit, and what happened in 2010 with the lurch to the right has been shown to be an outlier.
And it also showed that despite all the efforts of rich men who believed that America's elections and electorate could be bought and paid for, money cannot buy you everything or win elections. Neither can fearmongering, racism, and hatred based on ignorance and the mistaken idea that it's easier to scare the voters than convince them of the rightness of their cause. The vote margin may be narrow, but the victory against small-minded and cynical manipulators is huge.
It's important to be magnanimous and humble in victory, but it's also important to make it clear to those who tried to destroy Barack Obama and his party rather than just win that their style of politics and division is rejected and that they need to find another line of work. Or, to be blunt, to Karl Rove, Grover Norquist, Ralph Reed, Sheldon Adelson, the Koch Brothers, and all the rest of you evil trolls who would rather pollute America's politics with your bile than win an election fair and square -- we say get the hell out. We don't want your shit here.
There are times when the electorate can be maddening, short-sighted, fearful, and cruel. But on Tuesday they — we — proved that we can reject the politics of fear and division. It's not going to be Happy Gumdrop Fairy-Tale Land, but it's better than the country we could have awakened to yesterday morning with money and demagoguery the victors and the rest of us wondering what happened to the country that was supposed to be for all of us.
**********
Here are a some other notes from the election:
Here in Florida, Rep. Allen West (R), best known for his outrageous comments and incendiary rhetoric, lost to Patrick Murphy, and Joe Garcia (D) beat Rep. David Rivera (R), who is under criminal investigation. Also, eight of the eleven amendments to the state constitution were rejected, including a massive property tax overhaul, abortion restrictions and a "religious freedom" proposal that would basically have violated the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. There was also good news for the schools of Miami-Dade County; voters approved the $1.2 billion bond issue to repair and improve the schools' infrastructure. True to form, the state is still too close to call in the presidential race, but at least it doesn't matter in the overall picture.
In Ohio, Joe the Plumber is looking for work after losing badly to Marcy Kaptur (D).
There's a lot more news out there, and I'll be back later to wrap up more of it. In the meantime, savor the wins, deal with the losses, and keep on going.
(Cross-posted at Bark Bark Woof Woof.)
Labels: 2012 election, 2012 elections, Barack Obama, conservatives, Florida, marijuana, same-sex marriage, Tea Party, Wisconsin
posted by Michael J.W. Stickings at
9:00 AM
2 Comments:
.
My voting was not so much motivated by a belief in the candidate. Up to this election cycle, I did not believe it mattered who said he ran the country. This changed when the ‘dark money managers’ and GOP strategist targeted the White House and Congress for take-over, in direct opposition to the best interests of the people of USA.
My decision to vote was made longer than a year ago. I have been appalled by how absolutely awful the national political class in Washington D.C./New York actively decided to behave toward President Obama. Mr Obama is an honorable person doing a good job.
The people of USA put President Obama in Washington D.C. and the political class acted against the people’s will. I hold the GOP responsible and accountable.
The GOP were vociferous in their open vicious contempt and hatred. They were blatant about it and went out of their way to declare and actively make Mr Obama a failure. The national GOP approach over the past four years was, ‘it did not matter who or what else was hurt, if, at the end, they could make Mr Obama fail, they achieved their anti-USA goal.’ (I imagine it will not be better in the coming four years. They will just be more subtle in their nefarious deeds.)
When the Republican Party finally nominated Mr Romney, it made me even more resolute in my decision. (Amazingly, only a few years after the economy was brought to its knees by a gang of predatory Wall Street plutocrats, the GOP nominated a predatory Wall Street plutocrat!) The open level of mendacity, lies, and dis-honesty of the whole Romney/Ryan and Republican Party campaign was breathtaking in its audacity. Even when caught in a simple verbal mistake (Jeep production moving out of Ohio to China), instead of acknowledging an error, Mr Romney simple repeated the falsehood.
From the get-go the R/R/GOP ran its national campaign for President on verifiable and demonstrative lies. They even based their entire convention on taking one of the President's statements out of context (hammering President Obama about the "They didn't build that") and railing against it, knowing full well it wasn't what the President meant!
USA suffered over the past years because of the GOP sabotage/obstruction. The Washington D.C. Republican Party’s petty efforts to hurt the President at every and any opportunity regardless of the effects their political actions had on the people of USA was wrong. The voters rejected Mr Romney and the reprehensible, despicable behavior of the Republican Party.
The people of USA by the 2012 election, affirm their support for President Obama.
.
By
Ema Nymton, at 11:08 AM
Hello Bobby. Enjoyed your post, and I wish I had your optimism about "the victory against small-minded and cynical manipulators is huge."
I don't see Tuesday's results as electorate rejected much of anything. Nearly half of voters voted for a candidate they never liked -- remember the Republican primaries, where Romney barely won against a cast of lunatic clowns (as Carl says above, "WHEN BACHMANN CAN AT ANY POINT BE TAKEN AS A SERIOUS, VIABLE CANDIDATE, YOU'RE FUCKED!" Romney proved to be an awkward, dishonest dolt who makes George H.W. Bush look in touch with average Americans, a PR train wreck who kept tripping over himself month after month. Mitt Romney was the opponent a prize-fighter's manager would choose to stage a fight against just to pad his fighter's record. And still, more than 57M people voted for that schnook despite himself, despite the Neocons advising him on foreign policy, despite tapping as his running mate an economic and social radical who defined the ticket, and despite Sandy hitting just in time to all but obliterate his party platform on both big government and climate science...
I want to believe that last night's results were a rejection of all the Tea Party/Gingrich/Reagan/Bush/Limbaugh/Coulter/Luntz ugliness ... but because the popular vote was so close, I just can't. It was the same with Dubyah edging Kerry in 2004 - I did not take that terrible blow as a vindication of tax breaks for the rich, pre-emptive illegal war, torture, warrantless wiretapping, etc.
By
Ted, at 11:31 AM
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