Sorry GOP, Getting A Majority Of A 20% Voter Turnout Is NOT A Mandate

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Boy the midterm elections held yesterday was a kick in the gut for Democrats. The party failed to get their voters to the polls. Running away from your accomplishments will do that. So why did they run away? It was combination of corporate money, a biased media, and organizational incompetence. I’m sure glad I am not a Democrat but it pisses me off they blew this election.

As one comedian put it:

50 straight months of private sector job growth, gas prices down, medical inflation at lowest rate in 50 yrs, record Wall St profits, unemployment below 6%, bin Laden dead, lowest growth in govt spending since Eisenhower, deficit cut in half – clearly it’s time to go back to doing everything Bush did. – John Fugelsang

So what the hell happened? How did the Democrats pull a defeat out of the jaws of victory?

The biased corporate media didn’t help. This came to my e-mail box yesterday from CNN:

A majority of midterm voters are dissatisfied or angry with President Barack Obama’s administration, according to the first wave of 2014 exit polls analyzed by CNN.

Roughly six in ten voters are either angry or dissatisfied with Obama, though about the same proportion feel that way about Republican leaders in Congress, and most voters have an unfavorable view of both parties.

So the lede is that people hate President Obama yet further into the blurb we find out that people EQUALLY disliked the Republican leadership.

The Democratic party is 100% responsible for getting their message out (which they failed to do – obviously) and the media is 100% responsible for reporting accurately the state of politics and the issues – which they did not.

The people who did go to the polls didn’t seem as red or as crazy as say Senator Ted Cruz:

“The nature of voters’ unhappiness also was different Tuesday than in 2010. Seven in 10 said the economy’s condition was poor or not good, compared with 9 in 10 four years ago. In 2010, more than 6 in 10 voters cited the economy as the most important issue affecting their choice of candidates. On Tuesday, that dropped to just over 4 in 10.

Far fewer Americans than in 2010 said their personal financial situation was worse than it was two years ago. But many more said life for the next generation will be worse than it is for today’s Americans.

On health care, more people — a quarter — said it was their top issue than said so four years ago. Surprisingly, given the Republicans’ focus on the Affordable Care Act early in the year as a potential silver bullet, those who said health care was their most important issue backed Democrats by double digits.”

An unhappy electorate is toughest on Obama and the Democrats

In fact, on the issues, the voters stand with the President and Democrats

But the midterms were a reflection on Obama’s presidency. His second term has lacked purpose and direction as it has lurched from crisis to crisis, many of which – the NSA, the IRS, White House security – have been self-imposed. Where he has taken a stand, like on gun control after the shootings in Newtown, Connecticut, Obama was unable to achieve legislative change. Where he has not taken a stand, as with immigration reform, he is being punished for it. Polling shows the public actually backs Obama rather than Republicans on key issues, including mending rather than repealing Obamacare, immigration reform, increasing the minimum wage, same-sex marriage and a host of other issues. The problem is few people have any confidence that Obama will actually get any of them done.

Still, 2014 was hardly an endorsement of the Republicans. Red states like Nebraska and Arkansas voted to raise the minimum wage, Alaska and Oregon and Washington DC voted to legalize marijuana, and Washington state voted for a gun control measure. That the GOP has now taken control of the Senate marks a substantial change in terms of leadership but not a particularly consequential one in terms of legislation. The Republicans will emerge with only a small majority, and if the party’s recent experience running the House of Representatives is anything to go by, the GOP is likely to be a dysfunctional caucus – and anything Republicans do come up with that is unpalatable to Democrats, the president still holds a veto. Obama at times has proved himself in negotiations to possess the spine of a jellyfish, but unless he caves, nothing much more will get done this session than during the previous one.

Republicans didn’t win as big as you think they did. And Obama didn’t lose

There were also several local and state progressive issue that won last night like raising the minimum wage, defeating personhood laws, and paid sick leave.

When the media say that people dislike President Obama I can guarantee that half dislike him because he’s Democrat/Black/Socialist etc…. and the other half dislike him because he hasn’t been progressive enough.

He’s disappointed me because he hasn’t been progressive not only enough but at all. No universal health care push and letting the bankers who crashed our economy off the hook are black marks to me.

The GOP’s overall sham strategy of making sure President Obama “failed” seemed to work since most Democrats fell for it by staying home.

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2 Replies to “Sorry GOP, Getting A Majority Of A 20% Voter Turnout Is NOT A Mandate”

  1. it will be worse for the democrats in 2016-i hate both parties,nothing but a bunch of crooks,but for the democrats,Obama is their Bush

    1. Not sure If I would say it will be worse for Dems in 2016. My personal belief is they tanked the midterm to better position themselves to try for a sweep in 2016 (Congress and White House). But then again they are like the Keystone Cops so I probably I give them too much credit

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