Let's celebrate another victory for Democracy.
Just as I predicted, the GOP, like the 1969 Chicago Cubs, threw away all but certain victory by embracing MAGA lunatics, election deniers, book banning inquisitors, and cruelty as public policy. Donald Trump picked the worst of these candidates, and he made them, and many Americans feel powerful. He promised them they would take over the country. And the rest of the GOP let him get away with it.
Well, America just said no.
Again.
Then there’s this revelation from GOP Rep Tom Emmer from Minnesota, the Chair of the National Republication Congressional Campaign Committee. He told a reporters that “Republicans should be extremely happy with the election results.”
The a-ha moment, the thing that makes this a revelation comes when you take him literally. Just think about what the GOP did when had power. They said they would fix the deficit. But they cut taxes and ballooned it instead. They said they would appoint judges who restore confidence in the courts. The Supreme Court, in addition to being illegitimate and dangerous, now polls somewhere between slime mold and you uncle’s karaoke party. They said they wanted infrastructure but couldn’t deliver. They said they would replace the ACA but couldn’t be bothered to write a bill. They said they would build a wall, but despite having a developer in the White House, they couldn’t figure it out.
Under-performing is what they do when they govern. Now Tom Emmer said the quiet part out loud. Bragging about under-performing is just another weird thing Republicans do.
But, hey, if the GOP wants to be happy with this epic collapse, more power to them.
But really, more power to us.
The MAGA right sought to intimidate us with pointed rhetoric and pointed firearms. They worked themselves into a passionate fit- where white nationalist outrage and great replacement terror are real things. And they told us to be scared of their inevitable red wave.
But Americans were not bullied. We did not cower in fear. We did what we always do- we ran fair elections.
Let’s celebrate how close we to holding the US Senate. Let’s celebrate real gains in state legislatures around the country. Let’s celebrate denying the election deniers jobs where they oversee elections. Let’s celebrate turning back book-banning school board candidates.
Let’s celebrate America’s ability to hold large, free, and fair elections. Let’s celebrate the Democrats and the Republicans who lost with grace and dignity. They deserve credit for getting into the arena, and for strengthening our faith in elections both by running and by losing.
Let’s celebrate each other. We did it. Hundreds of thousands of our neighbors, as they always do, but this time under threat of intimidation, showed up to staff polling places. Millions upon millions showed up to vote. And they did not care one bit about what the so-called experts predicted they would do. They went to vote with a majesty and seriousness of purpose like the sovereigns they are.
If, as seems likely, the GOP gains a very slim majority in the House, I hope they make Jim Jordan Speaker. Let America compare his brand of nasty, dishonest, outraged, feckless, impotence to Nancy Pelosi’s disciplined and impactful leadership.
After he barks like a dog for two years, Americans will long for the days when Speaker Pelosi, President Biden, and a Democratic Senate delivered infrastructure, health care, economic growth, jobs, climate action, and common decency.
Just ask all those young Americans who showed up and proved to their elders that the future is safe in their hands.
There are many lessons in this election. Lessons about polls. Lessons about reporting. Lessons about campaigning. But the most important lesson may be this: We are better, more patriotic, more committed to democracy and decency, more tolerant of each other, and more interested in moving forward together, than either side gave us credit for.