People who know me best know I have a VERY low threshold for tolerating B.S.. So when the boss (and several others) here at C&L started complaining two days after the election that "President Obama needs to change if Democrats are going to win again in 2016", even though it is probably never a good idea to argue with the boss, I took umbrage.
After being told for six months how close the race was, turns out, No. No it wasn't. How big of a win was it? In the end, it wasn't even close. President Obama won BOTH the Electoral College AND the Popular Vote... and not just by a little, but by A LOT... 126 Electoral votes and nearly 3 Million in the Popular Vote (though I'm of the opinion that "just because we won doesn't mean millions weren't disenfranchised." Expect to hear more from me on that in the coming days.)
Republicans think if they keep telling us "this is a Center-Right nation", eventually it'll be true. But 2006, 2008 & 2012 clearly show just the opposite. America is FAR more Progressive than you'd ever know watching the MSM.
Here is just a partial rundown of Progressive victories Tuesday night:
- Obama re-elected, winning every swing state (Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Ohio, Nevada, Wisconsin, New Hampshire and Virgina.)
- Democrats gain seats in both the House (preliminary: +6) & Senate (+2 from 51+2 to 53+2 Inde.), retaining control of the Senate. We had 23 incumbent Senate seats to defend while Republicans only had to defend 10. Not only did we (nearly) SWEEP all but one of 23 Democratic races (Bob Kerrey did not hold Bill Nelson's NE seat), but we picked up two more (UPDATE: The AZ race is back in play).
- Maryland, Maine, and Washington all voted FOR Marriage Equality. Minnesota upheld their existing law.
- Iowa judge David Wiggins who upheld Marriage Equality in his state won reelection despite a concentrated effort to unseat him.
- Sherrod Brown retained his Senate seat despite being the most heavily targeted Democratic Senator in the country by the Right Wing SuperPAC's.
- Wisconsin elected the nations' first openly gay Senator, Tammy Baldwin.
- Tammy Duckworth took out "deadbeat dad" and all-around super-douchbag Joe Walsh.
- Washington State & Colorado decriminalized recreational Marijuana. Massachusetts passes a law allowing medical Marijuana.
- Democrats win Senate seats in deep red North Dakota & West Virginia (Heidi Heitkamp & Joe Manchin.)
- Swing state New Hampshire elects women to EVERY seat (Both Senate and both House seats).
- The "Redefine Rape" guys, Todd Akin, Roscoe Bartlett & Richard Mourdock all lost... BIG. (side note: Akin & Bartlet were also both on the House Science Committee. No joke.)
- Allen West is out (but not gracefully).
- Alan Grayson is back in.
- Most women in Senate EVER (
1820). - Missouri, Montana, West Virginia elected Democratic governors.
- Obama becomes first Democrat since FDR to win two elections with more than 50% of the popular vote.
- Obama won 70% of the Jewish vote despite all the fear-mongering over Israel.
- Obama won 73% of the Asian vote.
- Obama won 71% of the Latino vote.
- Democrats have won the popular vote in 5 of the past 6 presidential elections (2004 being the outlier.)
(Arguably, I think Michele Bachmann's reelection helps too, if for no other reason but to keep an active reminder of just how Looney Tunes the Far Right is. Basically, a backup wingnut. Had they of ALL lost, it would be much easier for voters to forget by 2016 just how crazy they are.)
Republicans just didn't see it coming. Never straying outside the comfortable confines of their Bubble, when the final result in Ohio came down, Republicans were quite literally in total disbelief. "How could it be? How could this country re-elect a Kenyan Muslim Socialist Atheist that goes around apologizing for America to a second term?" Fox News questioned the Ohio result when first announced and refused to concede the race, which is the likely reason behind Governor Romney's own delay before finally conceding two hours later. Let us all hope that a significant number of Republicans will question everything the Right Wing Media tells them next time around.
Things we WON'T have to worry about now? Rachel had an excellent rundown the next night (more video below the fold):
[media id="26000" embed="true" image="true" download="true"]
Some thoughts of my own:
- Supreme Court is safe for another four years.
- Billionaires got almost NOTHING for the Hundreds of Millions they spent, making such enormous spending less likely next time around.
- Karl Rove discredited as a political guru.
- Voters saw through "Fast & Furious" and "Benghazi-Gate" as cynical attempts to create scandals where one didn't exist.
- We don't have to worry about "ObamaCare" being repealed, and will now take full effect in 2014.
- BigBird and PBS stay safe (btw: today is the
45th43 Anniversary of Sesame Street.)
In all, it was a HUGE night for Democrats, and President Obama's place in history is assured. I'm sure I missed about a dozen other things we won in this election. Add your own in the Comments below.