Well, Roy Moore is not going to be a US Senator. That's a very good thing, although the election itself is a glass-half-full-or-half-empty type of thing. On the one hand, a Democrat, and seemingly decent human being, won in a state where Republicans usually win by 20 points; on the other hand, the candidate most unfit for public office in my lifetime (yes, even more unfit than Trump) came within a sliver of winning. That anybody voted for an alleged pederast, who said homosexuality should be illegal, Muslims shouldn't be allowed to serve in the US government, and our country was at its best when slavery was the law of the land is highly disturbing, let alone 48% percent of the electorate.
But win he didn't and the political ramifications are not small. I'm dubious of claims about "momentum" and "waves," but it certainly does seem like Democrats are more motivated to turn out the vote than I've ever seen them before, save for Obama's presidential victories. Susan Sarandon was widely mocked by liberals for proclaiming before the 2016 elections that a Trump victory might be a good thing because it would incite revolution. But could she actually have been right? No, of course not -- it's still an idiotic thing to say. I wish Clinton had won a million times over.
With that said, if the Democrats can retake the House and/or the Senate in 2018 due to a massive anti-Trump backlash, it would be more than a mere consolation prize. It would give the resistance actual power -- especially if they take the Senate. Some of those Supreme Court justices are getting up there in years and having blocking power over Trump would be huge. One of my fantasies is that Dems win a Senate majority in 2018 and then multiple openings on the Supreme Court open up (let's say people retire; I don't want to wish death on anybody), and then when Trump nominates somebody, Dems give him the Merrick Garland treatment, and then in 2021, newly-elected president Kirsten Gillibrand picks a couple of young, gay, transgender, racially ambiguous, atheist, liberal judges to fill the openings.
That's unlikely, sure, but it's much likelier now that the Dems won a seat in Ala-freakin'-bama! The way things set up, if they hold all their Senate seats in 2018 and pick-off Nevada and Arizona, definite possibilities, they would have a 51-49 advantage. Preliminary odds of this happening are right around 50-50 according to a comment I read from somebody at FiveThirtyEight. I guess other states are in play as well as long shots -- maybe Texas or Tennessee -- but there's also a chance Dems lose a seat they currently hold. You have to consider that as well. This is where Franken's happy hands hurt his party. I don't believe he was up for reelection until 2020. Now, there is going to be an election in Minnesota, a purple state, in 2018.
And the House is wide-open as I understand it. I haven't actually crunched the numbers myself or even read a comprehensive analysis on it, but I've heard smart people say that if Dems hold their seats and win in places carried by Clinton, they will win a House majority. That seems very doable, if -- and this is a big if -- they can turnout voters like they did in Virginia and Alabama. Everybody needs to be energized and do something for the cause -- volunteer or donate. Most people have either money or time to spare, some lucky people have both. Most people in this country are closer to Doug Jones than they are to Roy Moore. We just need to get those most people to vote. So, let's do it!
Okay, I'm off my political soapbox...
This will likely be my last entry on this blog for a few weeks or so. We are headed on vacation for the holidays -- Christmas at the beach! I'm looking forward to it. Not Hawaii (the South Carolina coast) so the song below isn't apt, but I like it anyway, so I'm posting. I gotta say, I can't enough Bing Crosby (Tacoma's own!) come the yuletide season.
Until next time...
But win he didn't and the political ramifications are not small. I'm dubious of claims about "momentum" and "waves," but it certainly does seem like Democrats are more motivated to turn out the vote than I've ever seen them before, save for Obama's presidential victories. Susan Sarandon was widely mocked by liberals for proclaiming before the 2016 elections that a Trump victory might be a good thing because it would incite revolution. But could she actually have been right? No, of course not -- it's still an idiotic thing to say. I wish Clinton had won a million times over.
With that said, if the Democrats can retake the House and/or the Senate in 2018 due to a massive anti-Trump backlash, it would be more than a mere consolation prize. It would give the resistance actual power -- especially if they take the Senate. Some of those Supreme Court justices are getting up there in years and having blocking power over Trump would be huge. One of my fantasies is that Dems win a Senate majority in 2018 and then multiple openings on the Supreme Court open up (let's say people retire; I don't want to wish death on anybody), and then when Trump nominates somebody, Dems give him the Merrick Garland treatment, and then in 2021, newly-elected president Kirsten Gillibrand picks a couple of young, gay, transgender, racially ambiguous, atheist, liberal judges to fill the openings.
That's unlikely, sure, but it's much likelier now that the Dems won a seat in Ala-freakin'-bama! The way things set up, if they hold all their Senate seats in 2018 and pick-off Nevada and Arizona, definite possibilities, they would have a 51-49 advantage. Preliminary odds of this happening are right around 50-50 according to a comment I read from somebody at FiveThirtyEight. I guess other states are in play as well as long shots -- maybe Texas or Tennessee -- but there's also a chance Dems lose a seat they currently hold. You have to consider that as well. This is where Franken's happy hands hurt his party. I don't believe he was up for reelection until 2020. Now, there is going to be an election in Minnesota, a purple state, in 2018.
And the House is wide-open as I understand it. I haven't actually crunched the numbers myself or even read a comprehensive analysis on it, but I've heard smart people say that if Dems hold their seats and win in places carried by Clinton, they will win a House majority. That seems very doable, if -- and this is a big if -- they can turnout voters like they did in Virginia and Alabama. Everybody needs to be energized and do something for the cause -- volunteer or donate. Most people have either money or time to spare, some lucky people have both. Most people in this country are closer to Doug Jones than they are to Roy Moore. We just need to get those most people to vote. So, let's do it!
Okay, I'm off my political soapbox...
This will likely be my last entry on this blog for a few weeks or so. We are headed on vacation for the holidays -- Christmas at the beach! I'm looking forward to it. Not Hawaii (the South Carolina coast) so the song below isn't apt, but I like it anyway, so I'm posting. I gotta say, I can't enough Bing Crosby (Tacoma's own!) come the yuletide season.
Until next time...
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