Election Results

Interesting results in the election tonight. It is clearly a good night for Republicans, but some interesting results could bode well for Democrats in the future. Virginia elected a Republican governor by a huge margin and New Jersey’s Corzine lost reelection, in a relatively close race; maybe closer than it should have been given his relative unpopularity. But the far right candidate in New York looks as if he is going to lose – offering a blow to those on the right that are attempting to take over the party. And even with a huge spending gap between Bloomberg and rival Thompson, it looks as if Bloomberg will only squeak by, even with most of the mainstream media supporting him. The key issue going forward is whether Democrats have the will to push against the tide of the conservative machine, that by most measures seems not to have popular support across the country. In fact, registered Republicans in the country are at their lowest levels in years, while many more call themselves Democrats. The swing vote is the key constituency, now measured as 44% of the electorate. If Democrats can again rally their base next year, if they can pass healthcare reform and stop the obstructionist Republicans from undermining democracy and the will of the people, I think they will be ok. If they become the weak-kneed party they have been for years, shooting themselves in the back by failing to confront Republicans, I believe there stay in power will be short. Even as we hear the poor, victimized right cry about a liberal bias in media, it is clear that the mainstream press tends to be parroting the far right as if they spoke for most of America. It is the job of Democratic spokesmen and activists to challenge this discourse, and offer a more realistic argument on why the country needs fundamental change if it wants to return to prosperity.