Why I Am PUMPED To Be a Democrat Today (Good News, Everyone!)

[Pirate Smile]

Why I Am PUMPED To Be a Democrat Today (Good News, Everyone!)

ShareNew 0by slaney black
Wed Nov 03, 2010 at 11:09:50 AM PDT

What do I have, rocks in my head? We just got romped with a 60+ seat loss in the House and 6 seats in the Senate. Oh my yes, things went badly last night.

But you know what? I'd much rather be a Democrat going into the next cycle than a Republican. Why? Well, I see at least 5 major trends in last night's results that bode extremely well for Democrats going forward:

The Republican nominating process is broken: They handed us 3 free seats in the Senate. And worse for them, since it "worked," they have no incentive to learn.

The West is ours: Republicans are basically locked out of the Pacific coast, and the inner West is slipping away from them - they lost big Senate races and picked up surprisingly few House seats there, because...

Organized labor + Hispanics win close races: Weak opposition helped us in CO and NV, but turnout, and an energized Hispanic vote, were what put us over the top. We have a formula for success going forward.

Even where we got slaughtered in House districts, we held our own statewide: One commentator called the Midwest "the killing fields" for Democrats. I couldn't think of a more apt description, and it applies to Florida, PA and upstate NY as well. But even still, we ran close statewide races in FL, PA, OH and IL. Those states are all still purple, likely tending toward blue in better circumstances.

Hispanics, again: Hate lost in Colorado and Nevada. It won in Arizona, but how long will that work? Prop. 187 was great for Republicans in California...for a cycle or two...

Yes, there's all that working in our favor next time around - but wait, there's more.

Florida will be less gerrymandered: Flordia voters passed Amendments 5 and 6 by large margins, requiring districts to be contiguous, compact, and not drawn for partisan purposes. This gives us a much better map to work with in one of the largest states, and one that is likely to gain a seat or two next election.

Voters are wising up to money in politics: Not too long ago, being a self-funding billionaire seemed like a sure way to get elected. Now, Fiorina, Whitman, Raese, McMahon have all bit the dust. That alone is good for Democrats. It also suggests that voters will wake up to Citizens United shenanigans over time.

The 2012 electorate will look more like the 2008 electorate than the 2010 one: It's normal that midterm voters trend older and more conservative than presidential years, but this time the difference was MASSIVE. Next time around, we will be dealing with essentially an entirely different set of voters.

For those reasons and more, I am PUMPED to be a Democrat today.

EDIT: Thanks to Grannyhelen...Blue states are bluer: "Not only did Connecticut stay blue, but Dems won the Guv race - something they hadn't done in quite a long time." I'd add MA-GOV, MD-GOV, and all of the CA and NY statewide races to that. 1994 saw R inroads into states like Massachusetts. That didn't happen. We've got a firewall.

EDIT: Thanks to MeMeMeMeMe...President Obama remains relatively popular: He's around 45% approval rating. Clinton was about ten points lower this time in 1994.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2010/11/3/916833/-Why-I-Am-PUMPED-To-Be-a-Democrat-Today-(Good-News,-Everyone!)

[feedbackstatic]

1. this helps

Very optimistic look at a bad night :-) Thanks for the post

[catgirl]

2. Kick!

:-)

[FLyellowdog]

3. Thanks. I needed that. nt

[Militant_Left]

4. The weak are accustomed to looking at everything through loss-tinted glasses.

yet we victorious in the elections yesterday.


We lost nothing but the weak of our party, and now are numbers are stronger than before.

Days of triumph await us!

[DrDan]

7. "lsot nothing but the weak of our party" . . . . get real

[Militant_Left]

8. I am real.

Care to join?

[DrDan]

15. no - there were some good D's that lost

I hope we see them in upcoming elections

[Chan790]

12. Well, i wouldn't say we lost NOTHING else...

but we did lose the weak of our party.

More so we encouraged the GOP to throw their moderates (their extremists are worse than ours.) under the bus. So, yeah, we lost obstructionists and they lost the only people they had who appeal to not-batshit-crazy average Americans.

It's their turn to cross firing lines.

[DrDan]

14. some good D's, and good people as well, were lost

[icnorth]

55. For the most part the good ones will be recognized

and can be resurrected...the bad ones, not so much.

[tomg]

63. Feingold, Grayson and a lot

of other great Progressives went down. At the same time, I realize where the poster is coming from, and it is a pretty good way to look at it ( optimistic about the future direction). And, honestly, while I am never glad to see a Dem lose to a Republican, if the majority who went under were the Blue Dogs, there is a chance that the Dems might get the message that they lost not because they were too progressive but that they were not progressive enough and that they ran away from the real accomplishments of the last 18 months.

I don't know.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

17. This Happy Talk Reminds Me Of Hitler Telling The German People

This happy talk reminds me of Hitler telling the German people that their Army was consolidating their victories in April of 1945.

And the OP failed to mention we lost ten governors's race and fifteen state legislatures. By objective standards it was the worst night for Democrats since WW ll.

[Renew Deal]

32. You're not that old

:evilgrin:

[readmoreoften]

40. The co-option of leftist phrases and rhetoric for right-wing purposes as well.

This also smacks of Germany. And every other reactionary movement.

[Name removed]

39. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[stormpilot]

42. You pick one person and think we're all the same?

Jokes on you bud.

[fascisthunter]

47. as the poster said... contrived

[fascisthunter]

46. lol... we have solutions

you dimwit

[Militant_Left]

59. We do have solutions.

The weak only have inaction, morning, and dwelling on their own fears.

[fascisthunter]

62. Yes we do... and most of them get ignored

Most people on this thread work hard as well as voice their feelings and opinions here. By making the assumption you did, you are attacking people, and talking down to them. I honestly didn't think your post was that serious, just a post to get a particular reaction.

Hopefully you can see what I'm saying.

[mimitabby]

5. ya ya ya! (kick)

[Itchinjim]

6. And eastern Iowa is still BLUE!

Braley, Loebsack and Boswell!

[JDPriestly]

51. Aren't the big universities and colleges in the East of Iowa?

Iowa State, University of Iowa, even the school in Pella and Drake?

Maybe the people in Eastern Iowa are better educated than those in Western Iowa. Could that explain the different political viewpoint?

[ballabosh]

64. Drake and ISU are more central

but there are plenty of liberal arts schools in Eastern Iowa: COE, Grinnell and Cornell, so you may have a point. But also most of the population centers are concentrated in the eastern part of the state. Aside from Des Moines and Sioux City, the major population centers are east: Cedar Rapids, Davenport, Iowa City, Waterloo, Dubuque, etc.

I think the main reason, is those farmers are very independent and they don't abide bullshit.

Edit: spelling.

[RBInMaine]

9. It all hinges on the economy. If it improves, Obama will be rewarded. If not, he suffers.

[BrklynLiberal]

31. If the economy improves, the repukes will take the credit. If it falters, they will blame Obama.

They have been playing chess...and have their pieces all lined up...and are several moves ahead of the Dems.

It will b interesting to see who ends up being the repuke nominee for Pres in 2012, and if the tbaggers will accept them as one of their own or try to get someone like Rand Paul nominated and split the vote. As Michael Moore says, that would be the only guarantee that President Obama will remain President Obama.

[Cognitive_Resonance]

10. Good perspective. There are many positives to work with. The House Republicans are on stage

in a role they really don't know how to play well. They're going to be exposed, and will likely be their own worst enemy. This set of outcomes can actually be used to achieve progress that would not have otherwise been possible. Think big picture. Think long-term.

[pasto76]

33. limited success w/ tea party has only stoked the coals of crazy

Repub establishment will have their hands full trying to control them. Bonus for us.

[Cha]

11. And, Hawai'i went back to a Dem in the Governor's

Office..and not just any Dem, either..a real friend to President Obama!

[besdayz]

13. i'm most thrilled that

yesterday the tea party was a outside popular ranting movement wiht no accountability and now they will be less outside and more accountable

it also elevates palin 2012 .....awesome! absofuckinglotely awesome

[craigmatic]

16. You didn't mention the black vote they came out in high numbers down south.

[CTLawGuy]

18. i'm happy about CO

that we won both statewide races, Hickenlooper (Gov - with 51% of the vote in a 3 way race) and Bennet (senate). If dems want to continue to have success at the presidential level, CO is a key state and it passed the Dem stress test.

[Pirate Smile]

19. Colorado is definitely a bright spot.

[joshcryer]

41. Me too. CO is a melting pot of America. It represents everyone.

You have the liberals in Boulder and the conservatives in Colorado Springs. Hispanics in Pueblo, Whites in Colorado Springs, African-Americans in Denver/Colorado Springs/Pueblo (at near the population average), Asians in Colorado Springs and outside of Denver.

In 2012 Colorado will still be blue, and it will be a nice indicator for the future of American politics.

[WildEyedLiberal]

20. I can tell you right now that Illinois's losses have little to do with the "tea party"

and EVERYTHING to do with disgust with Blagojevich and the perception of the corrupt Democratic machine in the state. Giannoulis would have won if it hadn't been so easy to tie him to the typical "Chicago" BS with his family's alleged banking ties to the mob - fair or not, the attack resonated with people in this state who are fed up to here with crooked pols. As soon as that scandal broke, I knew he'd lose. And the Senate isn't a teabagger victory anyway, because Mark Kirk is a very moderate Republican if you measure him against the teabag standard.

Frankly, Quinn would have lost if a moderate Republican had run against him, for the same reasons. The only thing that saved Quinn's hide was the fact that Brady IS a far right candidate. So as much as the pundits would love to hold Illinois up as an example of the "tea party wave," I think it's disingenuous at best.

[Aristus]

21. And Senator Murray will most likely win Washington State.

Sending Rossi down to a third straight loss to a woman. The pathetic loser really needs to pack it in...

The Evergreen State will keep its lady Governor and its two lady Senators. And remain a rather bluish shade of purple. B-)

[flamingdem]

22. Right on, onward and upward

Big thanks to the unions and Latino gotv.

[lumberjack_jeff]

23. Denial sucks.

We need to look this experience straight in the eye and learn from it.

This post does nothing but blow sunshine up our asses. It isn't a call for action.

"When you're chewing on life's gristle, don't grumble, just whistle!"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1loyjm4SOa0

[JackRiddler]

24. Uh-huh. Upstate New York flipped five House seats to the Republicans.

[sweetapogee]

25. My Congressman

Congressman, Paul E. Kanjorski D-PA was first elected to the United States House of Representatives from Pennsylvania’s 11th Congressional District in 1984. This means he survived the blood letting of 94.

But, he didn't survive the 2010 blood spill. Let me say it plainly, Rep. Kanjorski (who wrote much of the wall street reform bill) got trounced by the mayor of Hazleton, a conservative R. How do you say, with a straight face that the republican nominating process is broken? If it's broken, perhaps maybe we should consider breaking ours. No, we should learn from the pukes. I can tell you right now, they took a lesson from us after 2008.

My cubicle mate, an R to the hilt never once over the last 5 years called me stupid and he never called any D in office stupid and since Tuesday hasn't gloated one bit (compared to me in 2008 I was in his face big time), and I might add, he is calmly working on 2012.

....for what it is worth....

[Scurrilous]

26. K & R

:thumbsup:

[davidwparker]

27. And, 'cons purged out of their seats some DINOs that

this party cannot because they are suppose to be a "Dem."

Let's see if we can get some Dems to run in 2012 for the seats previously occupied by DINOs.

[Bette Noir]

28. Thanks. I needed that.

Being reminded that the West Coast is bluer than ever is even better than Salon's antidote to post-election depression:

http://www.salon.com/life/noble_beasts/index.html?story=/mwt/feature/2010/11/03/baby_animal_slideshow

[pasto76]

29. Yeah Im not feeling so bad about tuesday.

Not much is really going to change. Im also eagerly awaiting the tea partiers to get the boot from establishment republicans.

[BrklynLiberal]

30. Some good news is more than welcome.

Now tell the President to stand up and fight for those of us who stood by him and the other Dems!!!!!

[Sirveri]

34. We should also probably just ignore the citizens united ruling...

And that Feingold lost his seat... and Grayson...

And that the country is becoming more polarized not less...

[Tx4obama]

37. Grayson will be back! Hopefully he will run as senator next time :)

Edited to add:
Grayson was just on MSNBC with Cenk - and Grayson said "... if that's what the people want then I'll be back."

:) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :)

[Tx4obama]

35. And Representative Raul M. Grijalva (D) won in Arizona!

After all those republican teaparty threats he was receiving I was worried about him ;(

[BumRushDaShow]

36. K&R!

Time to fire it up!

:kick:

[Tx4obama]

38. Angle (NV), O'donnell (DE), Miller (AK) - LOST. That's something to celbrate!

But it's shitty that we're still stuck with Michele Bachmann (MN), Jan Brewer (AZ), and Rand Paul (KY) ;(

[Politicub]

43. Happy and proud to be a dem, too

No party or person is perfect. I wish certain dems were more assertive about LGBT civil rights. But on the whole, I'm grateful that we have so many progressives in our midst.

[Tanelorn]

44. Thanks and REC. REC. REC

[Flipper999]

45. I'm not pumped, but this is still good to keep in mind.

[GoneOffShore]

48. Good post with good points.

Thank you.

[RobertSeattle]

49. Get Marijuana measures everywhere we can :-)

[progressoid]

50. Voters are wising up to money in politics?

Don't think so. Citizens United money did some serious damage and will again.

[Charade]

66. I guess the nearly 3/4 of a billion that Obama raised doesn't count...

Oy...

[SunsetDreams]

68. So what do you think about Citizens United?

The poster mentioned that, and you reply with what Obama did.

[david_vincent]

52. Looks like it's up to me to add

that here in Vermont, Peter Shumlin (D) beat Brian Dubie (R) in what's perceived statewide as an upset in the gubernatorial race. Most of the press and TV stations here endorsed Dubie. Our local worthless rag, the Times-Argus, couldn't believe it. Their coverage amounted to a confession that they were crapping themselves.

[Sugarcoated]

53. Some great things, true

but the President's base will still not be as motivated if he doesn't stand up and show a spine . . . and if they let the Republican's continue to define us and not have a better PR strategy to counter the lies.

[yellowcanine]

54. Not to mention that it was the over 65 vote that carried the day for Republicans.

Not a way to build for the future.

[barbtries]

56. thanks

i needed that.

[David Zephyr]

57. Pirate Smile, you know that I'm going to recommed this thread.

Thanks! :)

[elleng]

58. Good analysis; only one 'disagreement,' as to $.

The individual richies didn't fare so well, but the repug targetted $$$ did VERY well for them, so citizens united will prevail, imo, for a LONG time. Dems will have to figure out how to match/duplicate chamber's corporate $. We need a Chief Financial Officer, imo.

Thanks

[zehnkatzen]

60. You made some very good points. Thank you! k/r n/t

[ColesCountyDem]

61. Small correction: Illinois is just barely purple.

It'll blue right back up in 2012, when the electorate is no suffering from "Blagojevich fatigue".

:hi:

[Charade]

65. You're kidding, right?

I want some of whatever you're smoking.

[SunsetDreams]

67. Well hello there, welcome to DU!

I'm so glad you bumped this back up :)

What is it about the article that you think, is causing us Democrats to be "smoking" something?

[mikekohr]

71. Charade, what an appropriate name

mike kohr
Bureau County Democrats
http://bureaucountydems.blogspot.com

[trud]

69. Fiorina, Whitman, Raese, McMahon have all bit the dust.

That alone is an extremely promising sign about not being able to buy elections. Maybe it will also discourage others of that ilk. A hundred million here, a hundred million there, pretty soon you're talking about real money you might want to leave to your kids, unless you're like Ellison and stuck in a 17 year old mind for eternity.

As to Fiorina, it was beyond my comprehension why one of the worst CEOs ever in terms of human decency in treating workers was even on the playing field.

The Democrat in RI lost for Governor because (1) he was a moron and (2) he was running against a person of unquestioned integrity in a 99% corrupt state. That result is good for everyone, regardless of party.

[old mark]

70. "The Japanese Army has us surrounded on 3 sides! They can't get away from us now!"

Then Colonel "Chesty" Puller, USMC, in a radio message on Guadalcanal in 1942. The occasion became known as the Battle of Bloody Ridge, which the Marines held against repeated Japanese attacks. The Japanese lost so many troops, it eventually cost them the island, later their huge base at Rabaul and eventually the war.
Puller later became the Commandant of the USMC.

It could go either way, but the Democrats have to get smart and actually want to win.

mark