Election recap
Nov. 5th, 2008 06:56 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tagrynFor the Republicans: the people have spoken. Move on, regroup and reform, and do better. I recall to them the words of Eleanor of Aquitaine in "The Lion in Winter":
If the GOP leaders are smart, they'll sit down with the "Blue Dog" moderate block of the Democrats and work out a game plan to work together, since the GOP and the Blue Dogs really aren't that far apart on a lot of issues, if they can get past their ideological blinders. If the GOP's pride doesn't allow them to do that, they deserve nothing.
For the Democrats, congratulations! A clear victory, fairly won. But remember the cautionary tale of the Republicans, who were in exactly the same place you are now in 2004 and squandered it all away by overreaching and choosing ideology over solutions. More distantly, your own party had control of both POTUS and Congress in '92, which led to the Gingrich takeover in '94 of Congress. Things can shift quickly. If you let the wing of the party that was carrying the "Why Wait? IMPEACH BUSH NOW!" signs at Obama victory parties last night (or Michael Moore referring to McCain voters as "the racists") take over and set the agenda, don't be surprised if history repeats itself. So, govern well, and don't overreach.
Finally, last night I said to Donna that I wonder if eight years from now, people will be saying "I wish we had elected Hillary in '08, but its too late now," just as folks were saying they wished McCain had won in '00, but his time had past.
We can't win, Richard. We've lost it this time. I've suffered more defeats than you have teeth. I know one when it happens to me. Take your wormwood like a good boy. Swallow it and go to bed.But, things weren't entirely bleak for the GOP. They seem to have barely preserved their filibuster margin in the Senate; McConnell won easily in KY, and Coleman may have squeaked out a narrow victory over Franken in MN (looks like an auto recount, though). Many of the ballot measures at the state level - Prop. 8 and 11 in CA, Prop. 102 (& maybe 101) in AZ, Nebraska's Measure 424, etc. - went their way. Obama's margin was only 5% of the popular vote, slightly less than many of the polls had him getting. In the end, this was primarily an anti-Bush vote year, so it would have been hard for any Republican candidate to have won, especially once the financial crisis broke.
If the GOP leaders are smart, they'll sit down with the "Blue Dog" moderate block of the Democrats and work out a game plan to work together, since the GOP and the Blue Dogs really aren't that far apart on a lot of issues, if they can get past their ideological blinders. If the GOP's pride doesn't allow them to do that, they deserve nothing.
For the Democrats, congratulations! A clear victory, fairly won. But remember the cautionary tale of the Republicans, who were in exactly the same place you are now in 2004 and squandered it all away by overreaching and choosing ideology over solutions. More distantly, your own party had control of both POTUS and Congress in '92, which led to the Gingrich takeover in '94 of Congress. Things can shift quickly. If you let the wing of the party that was carrying the "Why Wait? IMPEACH BUSH NOW!" signs at Obama victory parties last night (or Michael Moore referring to McCain voters as "the racists") take over and set the agenda, don't be surprised if history repeats itself. So, govern well, and don't overreach.
Finally, last night I said to Donna that I wonder if eight years from now, people will be saying "I wish we had elected Hillary in '08, but its too late now," just as folks were saying they wished McCain had won in '00, but his time had past.
