Things I Noticed On The Way To Democracy In Action...Or Something...
As Americans prepare to vote...or not vote...or as they await the results of the vote they already cast...or intend to vote but on the way to their polling place get distracted by a Starbucks banner reminding them that the Peppermint and Gingerbread lattes are back (yes!) and opt for a grande over their civic duty...
As all of the above take place or prepare take place I thought now would be a good time to share some observations, anecdotes, and lessons I've learned from the 2006 Midterm Elections. They are:
- I can never live in the South. I don't mean this as a blanket judgment on what I am sure is a nice part of the country to live in and has some very nice people (including LJ friends) who are thoughtful and intelligent. That said, I can't imagine happily living in a region where the now infamous "Harold, Call Me" ad (in the Tennessee Senate race) could actually sway enough of the electorate to turn a race. I know it is just a segment of Tennessee's overall population and the reflection of the mindset of just a small minority of voters/citizens in the South but still...
- A Democrat can basically run as a Republican and make it work...almost. Harold Ford, Jr., who will probably lose his Senate race in Tennessee, has run a great campaign. He has done a great job of making his faith part of his campaign, has taken a pro-life view, and has been pretty competitive in a state where Democrats weren't supposed to have a chance.
- A Republican can basically run as a Democrat (or run away from being a Republican) and make it work...almost. Michael Steele has run an excellent campaign in Maryland and, if the polls are to be believed, has narrowed the gap in a state where a Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate should not even be in it at this point. Mind you, he has done this by shunning the President and downplaying his party affiliation but all is fair in love, war, and politics.
- Moderate Democrats can compete and might even win in very Red states. If the Democrats have a very good night -- and "very good" would be defined by winning both houses of Congree -- that will mean they wake up Wednesday and say, "Where did all these moderates come from?" Jim Webb in Virginia and Jon Tester in Montana demonstrate what a difficult climate Republicans have faced. Virginia and Montana, based on their history, really shouldn't even be competitive. The fact that most polls show Tester and Webb with a slight lead heading in tomorrow (though within the margin of error) bodes well.
- I have such a news junkie (or rapidly-approaching-middle-age-and-I-watch-too-much-MSNBC-coverage) crush on Norah O'Donnell. She is to fans of brunettes what Paul Zahn is (or used to be) for news junkies that like blondes. Incidentally, there is a major redhead void on cable news.
- The religious wing of the Republican party needs to get right with God, not with Rove. Mark Foley and Ted Haggard are perhaps isolated cases but they also demonstrate hypocrisy run amok. There is also evidence out there -- anecdotal, literary, and legislative -- that the GOP has taken religious voters for the granted in the same way Democrats have taken minority voters for granted. God, I can assure you, will not steer you wrong or let you down. Politicians, no matter how much power they promise you or whatever chair they offer you at the table, will eventually let you down.
- Our news media is lazy. The John Kerry flubbed joke -- and anyone who didn't interpret it as a botched joke is being intellectually dishonest and/or partisan to the point where you can ignore everything they say -- got 2-3 days worth of the news cycle. The biggest problem with round-the-clock 24 hour news is that it means you gotta fill a lot of time. So when an insignificant news story like Kerry being a jackass (like we didn't learn that in 2004) come along you get CNN and MSNBC milking it for 2 days and Fox still milking it because it plays to their GOP propaganda machine and their audience of short bus passengers. Lost in the Kerry news cycles were: A) President Bush saying Rumsfeld will stay through the rest of his term in office and B) The fact that a 1999 series of war games conducted by the U.S. Government basically foresaw everything that has happened in Iraq. This simulation/prediction was ignored by the Bush Administration and the Rumsfeld Pentagon. More evidence this administration went in without a plan and still don't have a clue. http://www.jg-tc.com/articles/2006/11/06/ap/washington/d8l6r6rg0.txt
- Rush Limbaugh is a dick. But you knew this.
Tomorrow night I plan to blog/write in real time, regularly updating the results as they come in and sharing my useless jokes and observations about the various races around the country. I did this in 2004 and it was pretty fun and got some good comments. So check in tomorrow (after you VOTE) and lets observe, discuss, and mock our democracy in action.
J
As all of the above take place or prepare take place I thought now would be a good time to share some observations, anecdotes, and lessons I've learned from the 2006 Midterm Elections. They are:
- I can never live in the South. I don't mean this as a blanket judgment on what I am sure is a nice part of the country to live in and has some very nice people (including LJ friends) who are thoughtful and intelligent. That said, I can't imagine happily living in a region where the now infamous "Harold, Call Me" ad (in the Tennessee Senate race) could actually sway enough of the electorate to turn a race. I know it is just a segment of Tennessee's overall population and the reflection of the mindset of just a small minority of voters/citizens in the South but still...
- A Democrat can basically run as a Republican and make it work...almost. Harold Ford, Jr., who will probably lose his Senate race in Tennessee, has run a great campaign. He has done a great job of making his faith part of his campaign, has taken a pro-life view, and has been pretty competitive in a state where Democrats weren't supposed to have a chance.
- A Republican can basically run as a Democrat (or run away from being a Republican) and make it work...almost. Michael Steele has run an excellent campaign in Maryland and, if the polls are to be believed, has narrowed the gap in a state where a Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate should not even be in it at this point. Mind you, he has done this by shunning the President and downplaying his party affiliation but all is fair in love, war, and politics.
- Moderate Democrats can compete and might even win in very Red states. If the Democrats have a very good night -- and "very good" would be defined by winning both houses of Congree -- that will mean they wake up Wednesday and say, "Where did all these moderates come from?" Jim Webb in Virginia and Jon Tester in Montana demonstrate what a difficult climate Republicans have faced. Virginia and Montana, based on their history, really shouldn't even be competitive. The fact that most polls show Tester and Webb with a slight lead heading in tomorrow (though within the margin of error) bodes well.
- I have such a news junkie (or rapidly-approaching-middle-age-and-I-watch-too-much-MSNBC-coverage) crush on Norah O'Donnell. She is to fans of brunettes what Paul Zahn is (or used to be) for news junkies that like blondes. Incidentally, there is a major redhead void on cable news.
- The religious wing of the Republican party needs to get right with God, not with Rove. Mark Foley and Ted Haggard are perhaps isolated cases but they also demonstrate hypocrisy run amok. There is also evidence out there -- anecdotal, literary, and legislative -- that the GOP has taken religious voters for the granted in the same way Democrats have taken minority voters for granted. God, I can assure you, will not steer you wrong or let you down. Politicians, no matter how much power they promise you or whatever chair they offer you at the table, will eventually let you down.
- Our news media is lazy. The John Kerry flubbed joke -- and anyone who didn't interpret it as a botched joke is being intellectually dishonest and/or partisan to the point where you can ignore everything they say -- got 2-3 days worth of the news cycle. The biggest problem with round-the-clock 24 hour news is that it means you gotta fill a lot of time. So when an insignificant news story like Kerry being a jackass (like we didn't learn that in 2004) come along you get CNN and MSNBC milking it for 2 days and Fox still milking it because it plays to their GOP propaganda machine and their audience of short bus passengers. Lost in the Kerry news cycles were: A) President Bush saying Rumsfeld will stay through the rest of his term in office and B) The fact that a 1999 series of war games conducted by the U.S. Government basically foresaw everything that has happened in Iraq. This simulation/prediction was ignored by the Bush Administration and the Rumsfeld Pentagon. More evidence this administration went in without a plan and still don't have a clue. http://www.jg-tc.com/articles/2006/11/06/ap/washington/d8l6r6rg0.txt
- Rush Limbaugh is a dick. But you knew this.
Tomorrow night I plan to blog/write in real time, regularly updating the results as they come in and sharing my useless jokes and observations about the various races around the country. I did this in 2004 and it was pretty fun and got some good comments. So check in tomorrow (after you VOTE) and lets observe, discuss, and mock our democracy in action.
J