"Our two-party system has a way of balancing itself out in the long run. Really, it's not perfect but it's the best thing going so far." This was something like my optimistic grandfather would always say when I seemed down-in-the-mouth about the way things were going politically. And I've never forgotten his words. So with that reminder, I'm happy that the midterm elections are finally over.
I'm no stranger to experiencing grief over political losses in my lifetime. I've endured the Reagan era and the Bush II era. But lucky I am to have also felt the joy of winning during the Clinton era and now with eight years of the Obama administration. Good. We're even.
There was no great shock for me this time as opposed to 2004 when W was re-elected for a second term. I thought for SURE that the polls were skewed. And having knocked on every door in my small town twice had to have done something, right? I felt MSNBC and CNN were in for big surprises on election night, and John Kerry would be ushered in as president because so many people like I were immensely displeased with the Iraq War and embarrassed by the lack of grace Bush had when dealing with foreign affairs. Boy, was I wrong!
This time, I remembered that state of denial in 2004, and thanks to Nate Silver and NPR, kept myself grounded in the facts. I knew this time (2014) I didn't make any calls, I didn't knock on any doors, I didn't give as much money, I didn't register any voters, and I didn't do any fundraising. So if even being the political zealot as I have been for the Obama campaign hadn't done these things, I'm sure there was a lack of enthusiasm for many others as well.
I remember the shock the Republicans were in after the 2012 re-election of president Obama. I knew that feeling too well. It was the same response. They kept denying the polls and the news just like I did in 2004. What it did to me, though, and probably many others, was to make me even more determined and focused than ever. I'm sure it did the same to the Republicans for 2014 midterms. Well, mammoth infusions of money donated to their campaigns and voter apathy might also have a little to do with it!
Anyway, there were some progressive gains made in the way of the "personhood" issue, marijuana legalization, and minimum wage (an issue of mine for another post). What a contradiction on the night!
So was this a referendum? I think not. The House and the Senate ebbs and flows in both directions all the time however out-of-sync with the presidency it may be. Reagan had to deal with Democratic majorities. Clinton had to deal with Republican majorities, and so has Obama. The one time it really became synched (during my lifetime of memory) was during the last throes of the W administration. I think the results of that threw everyone into a fright and spurred a march straight back towards the Democratic party. Eventually, corrections are made and the people come through.
Maybe it's my age but having lived through Reagan, Reagan, Bush, Clinton, Clinton, Bush, Bush, Obama, Obama thus far - I'm not too worried that the world as we know it is going to end anymore.
