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Reduced to a Majority
Jan. 20th, 2010 07:20 pmA random thought – it occurs to me one of the reasons I’m less than engrossed by “The West Wing” is that real American politics is far more entertaining and has much more exciting storylines… Certainly more interesting than Australian politics, where the opposition has decided to show off its new found environmental concerns by announcing a bold plan to deal with climate change… namely, eliminating Australia’s feral camel population.
The Massachusetts election is interesting – in terms of voter mood, I’m not sure there’s anything there that can be projected nation-wide, and as far as its effects, it doesn’t mean that much. The Democrats never really had sixty senate seats – delays in seating new senators, the death of Kennedy, and Lieberman’s unreliability means not that much has really been lost. On the other hand, losing a traditionally safe Democratic seat on the anniversary of Obama’s inauguration will have serious symbolic power, and it will be interesting to see the reaction.
Theoretically, this might actually help the Democratic party in the long run – rather than chasing after the impossible goal of sixty senate votes, they might remember they actually do still have a majority and can still do stuff with that – giving them a little flexibility when it comes to recalcitrant members of their own party. It might also serve as a wake-up call to Obama and his advisors that the honeymoon is well and truly over and they need to at least look like they’re fighting for their goals, even if they’re not achieving anything yet.
Of course, if history is any guide, that won’t happen, and the Democratic party will instead panic and begin shifting even further to the right in another futile effort to win over independent voters. The sad thing is that in 2008 the Democratic party really had an opportunity to take advantage of populist anger and finally shed their reputation as being ineffectual and out-of-touch. Instead, they cozied up to business interests again, and Obama’s popular appeal has melted away to be replaced with the reactionary demagoguery of the tea baggers…
The Massachusetts election is interesting – in terms of voter mood, I’m not sure there’s anything there that can be projected nation-wide, and as far as its effects, it doesn’t mean that much. The Democrats never really had sixty senate seats – delays in seating new senators, the death of Kennedy, and Lieberman’s unreliability means not that much has really been lost. On the other hand, losing a traditionally safe Democratic seat on the anniversary of Obama’s inauguration will have serious symbolic power, and it will be interesting to see the reaction.
Theoretically, this might actually help the Democratic party in the long run – rather than chasing after the impossible goal of sixty senate votes, they might remember they actually do still have a majority and can still do stuff with that – giving them a little flexibility when it comes to recalcitrant members of their own party. It might also serve as a wake-up call to Obama and his advisors that the honeymoon is well and truly over and they need to at least look like they’re fighting for their goals, even if they’re not achieving anything yet.
Of course, if history is any guide, that won’t happen, and the Democratic party will instead panic and begin shifting even further to the right in another futile effort to win over independent voters. The sad thing is that in 2008 the Democratic party really had an opportunity to take advantage of populist anger and finally shed their reputation as being ineffectual and out-of-touch. Instead, they cozied up to business interests again, and Obama’s popular appeal has melted away to be replaced with the reactionary demagoguery of the tea baggers…