Wednesday, November 08, 2006

Blue Skies...Shining at Me...Nothin' but Blue Skies...


Now this is the kind of Housecleaning I can get excited about!

When I finally got to bed last night, I knew the Democrats had won the House, but the firewall was still in place--Missouri, Virginia, Tennessee, and Montana had yet to be called. And although CNN and MSNBC remained confident in their projections, Steele had yet to relinquish Maryland. I had given up Tennessee, and I was happy enough with the House and the fact that my own state, Ohio, had completely and irrevocably turned a lovely shade of angry electorate
BLUE. The governor, the senate, key house races, my state rep.--hell, even every local seat, judges even, were going Democrat. I felt electrified. I turned off the television feeling pretty damn good.

This morning while getting ready for school, I listened to local radio but was surprised not to hear a single word about the outcome of the Senate. My husband turned on the tv and I stared at CNN and a single word in the upper left corner of the screen. "LIVE", it said, with the balance of power graphic still across the bottom. Virginia and Montana, I heard, were still at stake, with Missouri going to the Democrats. I couldn't wait to get to work and "caucus" with fellow Dems.

All day long, other Dems zoomed down to my room to chat it out and hug and squeal in the hallway. We all had CNN minimized on our computer screens and checked it in between classes or during lulls in our lectures. You could tell just by looking who voted what in our building. The smiles were dazzling for the Dems. It felt good to feel good, not angry. We had gotten it all out at the polls, and evidently, so had everyone else!

But, once the recounts are done and the euphoria wears off, January will inevitably come. The Democrats will have to do a singularly vital thing: they must--they must turn the anger into hope. This country has given them their fatigue, their skepticism, their yearning, and their desperation. This is a weary and resentful electorate. An impatient and mistrustful people. A ready and waiting America. "There is a tide in the affairs of men, " warns Brutus in Julius Caesar, "which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune; omitted, all the voyage of their life is bound in shallows and in miseries." The Democrats must take this opportunity bestowed upon them by a hopeful America and reward that hope immediately and decisively, not vengefully and foolishly. This is a time to lead forward, not punish the past. It's not enough now to be the party of who we aren't; we must now be the party of who we are.

And make America what it can be again.

10 comments:

  1. Anonymous8:29 PM

    It is such an exciting day. But I agree, now the rubber meets the road. In all my political emails I have been encouraging folks to not let down their guard (like many did when Clinton was in office) and hold the politicians accountable.

    I pin my highest hopes on the leadership of Nancy Pelosi. Are you all remembering that she is now 3rd in line for the presidency.

    It must be particularly exciting to be in Ohio as it turns BLUE.

    Hurray for Ohio.

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  2. I love the new BLUE of your blog!! I just read that Webb won in VA, so we took the Senate too! Wooohoo!!!!!!!!

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  3. Anonymous9:08 AM

    The Democrats win control of both Houses. A good thing.
    Americans embrace the stifled liberal ideology of the Democrats. No.
    Most voted their anger to GB, the abuse of power and arrogance of those in power. Yesterday was an anti-Bush mandate.
    I hope that the result will not be that the new party in power thinks that a liberal ideology shall be the new “Contract With America.
    Also since Nancy Pelosi and I hail from Maryland, I feel qualified to univocally state “America has a new Newt and she wears Prada.”

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  4. Anonymous11:30 AM

    anonymous: Wow. Newt? I'd love to hear what is behind that.

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  5. plain jane--

    who knew it could be exciting to be in OHIO?! LOL. but, on a more serious note: you and I share the same concerns. we hope that our dems remember that it's a complete change in direction and leadership that america voted for--away from backdoor deals and corruption, imperialism and bloodshed, letting profiteers and CEOs run our country. more has to change than just the nameplates on the doors.

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  6. anali--

    and allen, looking ahead at the g.o.p. nom in '08, did the politically sound thing today and conceded without demanding a recount! we're in both for sure, now.

    lovin' it!

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  7. anonymous j.s.--

    i'm intrigued by the oxymoron of "stifled liberal" to describe the democratic ideology. please explain.

    when you say "most" voted their anger at the angel of death, are you saying most dems, or most voters, or most repubs? not that a case couldn't be made for all three; i'm just asking for your clarification here.

    finally, i agree: a totally "liberal" democratic ideology is probably not a good idea, but i don't think all the congressional candidates who were elected can be pigeonholed so comfortably or succinctly into that label. certainly not lieberman, for one. i think the dems learned an awful lot from '00 and '04. this midterm cycle proved it, and it also proved that the repubs didn't learn a damned thing. there is a lot of moderation going on in the democratic party: look at those who call themselves Clinton Dems. Look at the rush of support for Obama, who is currently the Democrats' Darling. He's extremely moderate. Pelosi might wear Prada, but she's no Devil/Newt. She's way too smart for that.

    Most Nance's are...

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  8. My thoughts/feelings as I stood in the middle of my department, listening to NPR on the PC, waiting to close the store and rush home to see results:

    Woooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!
    Woooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!


    Oh, and I was monitoring a map on that PC that just kept getting blue..er, and blue..er, and blue..er. And I am happy that all issues went my way.

    I hope that there is forward progress. I know there will be!

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  9. danielle--
    hope you had some blue company at work for your rejoicing. keep your fingers crossed that the transfer of power in the congress will be orderly and civil.

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  10. I did, another Nance-coincidence? From all the talk I hear on NPR, the transfer *should* be ok, but there is a question of whether "you know who" can play nice with others-like Bill did in '94. I don't expect much out of him- I see kicking, screaming, "these are MY toys!!!!"... that sort of behavior.

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