Well, it looks like a big Red Wave swept over the country. So be it.
But not here in Oregon. Oregonians voted to send our entire delegation back to Washington, DC. And, as an added bonus, Representative Greg Walden, from Oregon's 5th Congressional District, is lined up for a leadership post in the new Republican House. That's good for Oregon. So, for once, I can be thankful that Walden is part of the Oregon delegation.
As I write, the Oregon Governor's race is still too close to call. But I believe Governor Kitzhaber has the inside track. Most of the uncounted ballots in the Governor's race are from Multnomah County, which, of course, is a Democratic stronghold. Dudley's lead is ~10,000 votes at the moment. But with under 70% of the Multnomah County vote counted thus far, and trending 70-30 in favor of Governor Kitzhaber, things look pretty good.
I''ll wait until we have a final result for the Governor's race before I write a post on Oregon results. But for now, I want to console my fellow progressives throughout the country who, today, might feel a little shell-shocked.
Don't let it get you down. The situation today is much better than it was in November, 2004. Back then, as you recall, Republicans controlled both houses of Congress as well as the Executive branch. Today, Democrats still control the Senate and the White House.
This is no mandate. Polls have consistently shown Republicans to be even more reviled than Democrats, in spite of what happened yesterday. The GOP is on very short notice. And, take it from me, John Boehner, the presumed front-runner for Speaker of the House, is going to have his hands full with the tea-bag caucus. The GOP is gonna tear itself apart over the next two years. Watch and see!
Keep the faith, progressives. Mr. LaMontagne has some words to console you.
As for Oregon --well, Trent Lutz, executive director of the state Democratic Party said it best: "The red tide broke against us. We didn't break against it."
More later...
2 comments:
Way to go Oregon ... all that red is scary brother.
Peace.
Ridwan
Exactly as predicted. This is what happens in every mid-term election in the USA, those who have not delivered Utopia are punished. This result is pretty close to what happened to Reagan in 1882, although Obama still has the Senate on his side. This will make little difference in the long run. The economy will continue to recover, Obama will destroy any Republican candidate in debate and the only question in two years will be whether the Democrats recover the House.
The important thing to remember is that the Republicans cannot do anything with just the House. All they can do is try to say "No" to Democratic plans. Well, that's why Obama compromised so much in his first eighteen months, to get what he could passed while it was possible to pass something.
This should be a quiet period of gridlock, with the inexorable improvement of the economy an advantage for the Democrats.
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