My lenses are not rose-tinted, but I'd like to believe that the midterm elections this November could defy the books. Yep, I honestly believe that the Democrats have a chance to recapture a majority in the US House, despite heavy odds.
A modified version of the 50-State Strategy pioneered by Howard Dean, the chairman of the Democratic National Campaign Committee (DNCC) in 2006, might be worth considering. The primary objective of this approach was focused on gaining support for Democratic presidential candidates in red states. However, a concerted effort was also made to promote Democrats running for state, local, and congressional offices. This endeavor worked well enough to help the Dems regain a House majority in the 2006 midterm elections.
Many political observers will be likely to cite a long-standing historical pattern in regard to congressional elections: that is, the party in the White House generally tends to lose seats in mid-term elections. That's generally been the case and 2006 was no exception.
However, I believe that this pattern could be broken because these are extraordinary times. Here's why: Many of the Republicans elected in 2010, especially those with Tea Party backing, have demonstrated an unprecedented degree of both inflexibility and abject cruelty. Here are some examples: Even during the era of Bush the Younger, House and Senate Republicans routinely approved extensions of federal unemployment benefits when the need was apparent. Additionally, threats of government shutdowns and fiscal default were never even on the radar.
Republicans in both houses of Congress are now insisting that the $25 billion price tag for a yearlong extension of federal unemployment insurance needs to be paid for by cutting other programs. Tax hikes? "No, no, no!" cry the Repubs, petulantly stamping their feet. Oh by the way, the 16-day government shutdown left us all $24 billion poorer!
One can only hope that well-intentioned voters --- those who really care about their neighbors and friends --- will grow weary of hard-hearted Congressfolks like Stephen Fincher, a Republican from western Tennessee, who opposes any sort of measure offering relief to struggling families, insisting that it's no business of the government's. After all, he insists, "Those who don't work don't eat", according to the Bible. Yet his own family's thriving cotton farm receives an average of $300,000 a year in agricultural subsidies!
Granted, convincing voters to exercise their franchise during mid-term elections is always a challenge. And harrumphing old white dudes always vote! But in 2012, many determined voters valiantly and successfully resisted concerted efforts on the part of Republican officials to suppress their rights to the ballot.
Once again, the odds may be heavy, but I'd like to believe that a Democratic House in 2014 is more than just a dream.
What I'd really like is for any elected official to behave in an intelligent, well-educated, civil fashion AND DO THEIR JOBS, whether an R, a D or an I follows their name. This is entirely the expected minimum in my book. I can't look to any particular party per se to accomplish that, too many changes since the 1940s USA.
ReplyDeleteI need more comments from you on my posts--You're busy, I know, but I am worth it.
If Congress had a conscience back when the government most recently shut down, by not shutting down at all they WOULD HAVE THE EXACT AMOUNT projected needed to pay for unemployment extension now, as you suggest here.
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