Morning After…
Within two minutes of waking up this morning, my mother called me in a fit of rage. She was looking for someone to console her on the results of the election. She also wanted contrition for my and the rest of the family’s support of Tom Horner, given how close the MN gubernatorial race is. (I couldn’t actually vote in MN, but I attribute 10 of Horner’s 14 percent of the vote to Homo Publicus’s endorsement. As it happens, I have no contrition to offer. Dayton is awful. I’m sorry, but the man is awful). It would appear that the Minnesota Independence Party’s streak of nominating the best candidate, generating buzz, only to fail to break 20 percent goes unbroken.
What I neglected to mention to my beloved mother (I do love her a lot, and am only airing this incident to kid her affectionately) is that I am actually pretty okay with the results of the election. In spite of all the liberal hand-wringing, divided government strikes me as being pretty darn swell. What we have is basically a repeat of ‘94, except that this time Congress passed health care reform before it happened. (I know many of you are upset that you didn’t get the public option. I don’t know what to tell you. Move to Sweden). Without control of the Senate, Republicans can’t really repeal a damn thing. There will be a lot of theatrics to no avail.
“But George, with a divided Congress, nothing will get accomplished.” [sobs uncontrollably]
I know. It’s fantastic. Without activist legislation coming from either side, we will have a clearer sense of the lay of the land. Business confidence is going to go up and private sector hiring is consequently going to do the same. The economy will improve and, frankly, Obama will probably get credit (rightly or wrongly) and get re-elected in 2012. (Michael Bloomberg will also make a run for President and we could honestly wind up with a moderate, independent President—an equally phenomenal prospect).
Does it upset me that Rand Paul is now a US Senator? Absolutely. Sharron Angle and Christine O’Donnell aren’t, though, so we are not without cause for relief. I am pretty pleased with Mark Kirk’s win in Illinois. A moderate Republican may actually serve the Democrats interest more than another Dem, in the end.
As a final note, I know most of the US Senate Democratic caucus are avid fans of this blog, so I am going to impart some advice. Dick Durbin and Harry Reid should switch places. If this election has taught us anything, it’s that Harry Reid (shockingly) is the Chuck Norris of the Democratic Party. (If you haven’t read the New Yorker profile of him, you should. The man is suprisingly bad ass, which does not jive at all with his mopey persona). However, the area he excels in is getting votes. He is not charismatic enough to be the face of Senate Democrats. Durbin is from the upper Midwest, a region the Dems need to reconnect with if they want to survive 2012. Make the switch.
