Thoughts On The Election

Well, it's over.   And it was pretty bad.   Here in Texas things went pretty much as expected.   We started the night with no statewide elected office holders who were Democrats and that's still true.   Blue Dog Bill White lost to Rick Perry and he didn't even come close -- a 14 point deficit with more than 80% of all precincts reporting.   The other statewide Democratic candidates did even worse.

There was a hope at the beginning of the night that perhaps the Democrats could retain most of their State House seats and be a player in the redistricting battle.   However, it looks like they will lose several seats in the Texas House.   That means the Republicans will have a free hand to gerrymander to their heart's delight and make sure they rule Texas for a while to come.   That's not good, but it is the way it is.

The only bright spot in Texas is that it looks like the Green Party candidate for State Comptroller will finish with about 6% of the vote.   That means the Green Party will have a spot on the Texas ballot in 2012.   The Libertarians will also be on the state's 2012 ballot.

This election has been a mixed bag for the teabaggers with their extreme Republican candidates.   So far, they have won with Marco Rubio (Florida), Rand Paul (Kentucky), Pat Toomey (Pennsylvania) and Ron Johnson (Wisconsin).   They lost with Christine O'Donnell (Delaware), Linda McMahon (Connecticut), Sharron Angle (Nevada) and Carly Fiorino (California).   The Colorado and Washington races are too close to call, and there are no results from Alaska yet.

Nationally, the Republicans have taken the House of Representatives and although they may not take the Senate they have increased their strength there.   That means President Obama will either give in to the Republicans or we are in for some serious gridlock for the next couple of years.   Frankly, considering the weakness he has shown thus far, I'm not sure which way that will go.

I do know that the Republicans can no longer do nothing.   The issue in this election was jobs, and the fact that the Democrats did not do enough to stimulate new job creation.   Now it is the turn of the Republicans to stimulate jobs, and unless they change their policies, I don't see that happening.   They will increase the chasm between the rich and the rest of us.   They will give the rich new tax breaks (although they are the only Americans who don't need them).   They will continue to support the outsourcing of American jobs.   And they will continue to block any new spending to stimulate jobs.

I believe they will just continue their same old policies -- the ones that got this country into the current economic mess in the first place.   There will be little or no job creation for the next two years.   The only bright spot is that it will most likely be the Republicans who get the blame for no jobs in 2012 (and I firmly believe that will be the most pressing issue at that time, just like it was in this election).

Unless the Republicans come up with new ideas and policies real quick, the win they had tonight could go sour on them in 2012 when they get the blame for not fixing the economy.   The economy is fixed for the rich and the fat-cat Wall Streeters.   Giving them more won't help the Republicans.   They need to help workers and the middle class, and their current policies won't do that.   Tax and deficit cuts are very poor job creators, and they have nothing else.

So buck up Democrats and progressives.   Tonight will stifle the economy for a couple more years, but it is not the end of the world.   In fact, the seeds may have been planted for a much brighter 2012.   I have to warn the Democrats though.   They need to be much bolder in trying to help ordinary Americans and in fighting the disastrous Republican policies.   The timidity they have shown in the recent past will get them nowhere.

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NOTE -- Proposition 19 (to legalize marijuana in California) is trailing and looks like it may be defeated.