NOT A BAD ELECTION NIGHT, EVEN IF IT'S AN "OFF-YEAR"
Blogger ate my original post, so I will revise this later. For now, I can say that what I mostly did was list some of the forward steps the Democratic party made yesterday... small steps, granted, but I believe that what happened in the Virginia gubernatorial race, what happened with the school board in Dover, PA, and what happened to all of Schwarzenegger's ballot measures in CA indicate that things are looking up for the left. I think the race in VA was somewhat crushing for the Bush camp, as the GOP candidate seemed highly representative of Bushviews. In PA the Dover school board saw a big turnover as something like eight Intelligent-Design-supporting Republicans were tossed out in favor of Democratic candidates; Kansans, take note, and take back your state school board! The defeat of the CA ballot measures may help CA rid itself of Arnold... at the least, it suggests he needs to at least pretend to be more moderate in some areas if he wants to get re-elected as that state's governator. California Dems might need only to run a moderate candidate who preaches fiscal responsibility without being draconian, and who supports public employees... and things could quickly get sunnier in the Sunshine State!
Sure there was the Texas ban on gay marriage, the "progress" the Kansas school board has made introducing Intelligent Design into the state's science curriculum, GOP mayoral candidates won in NYC and San Diego, and the Kansas state school board has made great "progress" in its effort to get creationism into the science curriculum... but I think Detroit decided to re-elect an incumbent Demo mayor who was in all kinds of trouble before they would elect a Republican. And I believe Minneapolis elected a Democrat mayoral challenger, unseating a Bushcore guy in the process.
Yes, I admit these victories involve issues/contests that are relatively local, but hey... they will get into the news and people will know that Democrats aren't dead and that we are nowhere near rolling over or bending over. It is the beginning of a trend, the start of something big. Now we just have to keep the momentum going! Can we do it for the next full year?
Sure there was the Texas ban on gay marriage, the "progress" the Kansas school board has made introducing Intelligent Design into the state's science curriculum, GOP mayoral candidates won in NYC and San Diego, and the Kansas state school board has made great "progress" in its effort to get creationism into the science curriculum... but I think Detroit decided to re-elect an incumbent Demo mayor who was in all kinds of trouble before they would elect a Republican. And I believe Minneapolis elected a Democrat mayoral challenger, unseating a Bushcore guy in the process.
Yes, I admit these victories involve issues/contests that are relatively local, but hey... they will get into the news and people will know that Democrats aren't dead and that we are nowhere near rolling over or bending over. It is the beginning of a trend, the start of something big. Now we just have to keep the momentum going! Can we do it for the next full year?
3 Comments:
I spent the day listening to the right wing pundits trying to play down what happened yesterday. I'm feeling very hopeful about 2006...I think in a lot of races all the Dem will have to do is show a picture of their GOP opponent shaking hands with the Deserter-in-Chief...
It was a good day, indeed.
But to clarify one thing: St. Paul, MN's mayor was a Democrat. The problem was that he went against the party and endorsed Bush last year. St. Paul wasn't amused. Yesterday they elected his Democratic challenger by a 2:1 margin. Bye bye, Randy, you traitor.
Right on, J.! I haven't heard what the apologists have to say yet, so I'll have to check into that... I'll bet it has been pretty amusing!
Lizzy, thanks for the clarification! Always great to purify the wheat by getting rid of the chaff!! Looks like Minneapolis knows how to clean itself up. Cheers to those Minnesotans!!
Post a Comment
<< Home