Post-Election Musing

I am not proclaiming victory and doing a happy dance, although I am pleased with the apparent outbreak of good sense from coast to coast. I have hope for the Midterms but I am not assuming that the Democrats will regain control of either the house or the senate, let alone both. Of course, I hope this happens, and I get heady notions about electoral sweeps in November of 2006. But it hasn't happened yet, and a hell of a lot can happen in a year. That's a lifetime in politics.

I was glad to see Bloomberg win in New York. He is, after all, more liberal than Ferrer.

I did almost dance a gig when I learned of the Dover, PA school-board routing that turned eight religious conservatives out of office. But that was tempered by the Kansas State School Board repeating the 1999 evolution fiasco. I'm a scientist and I work in Kansas. Yesterday was Irony Day for me.

Corzine was the guy in Jersey. That was kind-of a given, although it was an ugly battle. In a victory speech, he stuck his thumb in Bush's eye and twisted it by proclaiming his dedication to stem-cell research - and the crowd went wild.

Kaine in Virginia was a pleasant and hoped for victory, and I was relieved that a candidate could win and separate his real, deep and abiding faith from politics. A was worried because Virginia has an active death-house, and voters who favor offing offenders, and Kaine is anti death-penalty. His victory is probably the most significant.

In Missouri, two Republicans replaced two Republicans in the statehouse. This is dismal. The southern Missouri voters are getting what they deserve, it's just too bad they have to drag the rest of us along on this unpleasant little ride. Their jihad against the poor doesn't affect me, I don't receive any benefits from the state, except a tax refund I don't need and would rather see added to the coffers of my state, where we rival the deep south in every area of social welfare. But that is a moot point. I'm a human being in a caring profession. It's a given I feel distressed at the cuts to social programs we are experiencing.

The California referendum sweep was pretty damn thrilling. I don't root for any politician to fail, but I am also tired of celebrity politicians. The best thing I can see coming out of this, being a non-Californian, is that maybe we will stop hearing talk of amending the constitution so Ah-nold can run for president.

It was a sweet day for Democrats, on balance. But there is still a lot of work to do and a year to go to the midterms. Some Democrats are not merely counting chickens that haven't hatched, they are putting the chicken-heavy menu together for the victory feast. If they blow it, I swear I'm registering as a Green or a Libertarian...I'll just flip a coin, since I have streaks of the core values of both parties running deep in my psyche. (No wonder I'm a little nuts! Trying to balance those two!)