Today You And The Billionaires Have The Same Number Of Votes– One
So today’s the big day, the culmination of months of hard work by progressives around the country. We have heard from every pollster, pundit and prognosticator and now it’s down to citizens exercising the franchise and counting their votes.
There are some good signs for some of our Blue America stalwarts and we are hopeful that all of them will pull out a win. (In any case, we can all take some heart in the fact that many more Blue Dogs are going to go live in a nice farm in the country, if you know what I mean.)
And anything can happen. Just 12 years ago we were all going into a mid-term election assuming huge losses due to what the hysterical media told us was a national repudiation of the president over a ginned up hissy fit. Here’s what happened:
For political observers of any stripe, the results of Election ’98 were practically unthinkable as Democrats defied precedent and most predictions to gain five House seats, two statehouses, while holding their own in the Senate. Only once since the Civil War has a sitting president’s party gained congressional seats in a midterm election, and since 1938, the party controlling the White House has lost an average of 44 seats. Add that to the Lewinsky scandal, and members of both parties figured 1998 to be a year of greater Republican dominance in Congress and the statehouses. For the White House, which faces a GOP-led impeachment inquiry in the House, the results could hardly have been more gratifying.
Polls are usually fairly good at detecting trends and maybe all the doom and gloom will come to pass. But each race has its own logic. And elections like that (and the next one in 2000) remind us all that no matter what, you have to vote.
And if the spectre of two years of gridlock and hearings and trumped up scandals doesn’t move you to vote, then maybe this video called “What have the Democrats done for you?” will:
As you know, Blue America is in this movement for the long haul and we expect that there will be triumphs and disappointments. But we believe that by keeping our eyes on the prize, over time, with your help, we will change our politics and our country for the better. We want to thank all of you for everything you’ve done this year to help support and elect progressives like Alan Grayson, Justin Coussoule, Billy Kennedy, Mary Jo Kilroy, Raul Grijalva and all the other Blue America endorsees. We can tell you also that these progressive candidates know that you are out there and are profoundly grateful for the support they get from you when the going gets tough. And we are too.
Thank you,
Howie, John, digby and the Blue America team
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