If the GOP didn't get the message the voters were sending (and I don't think they have any more of a clue than the Pelosicrats), this could turn out to be a short term gain.
Which is pretty much the way it is supposed to work, if it needs to. That's one very underrated thing this nation's founders got right. The House is designed that way for a reason.
That being said, Cliff's election day post is giving me a lot to think about. He doesn't think this election is going to change anything, and he's right in a lot of ways. These are the same GOP folks talking about the same solutions that didn't work the last time they were in office. They got rid of a bunch of Democrats too beholden to big business and interest groups to actually change the things that needed changing.
Our nation is faced with fundamental decisions coming up in the short term, and while the Democrats might have given lip service to some of those decisions, they were defeated by a bunch of Republican candidates, Tea Party folks, and right-wing media who wrung electoral victory from the most hyperbolic and destructive narratives I've experienced in my lifetime.
Playing revolution wins when the decisions you have to make are boring and complicated. (Though I'd get really wonky and argue that the GOTP was more playing pre-emptive counterrevolution, but that's for another time.)
But those decisions will not be made from Washington, D.C. That is the point of this election. People don't trust elected officials from either political party to do what needs to be done. If the change comes from Washington, it will always be viewed with suspicion unless it works immediately, and anything that actually does get done can be demagouged to death by the opposing party.
That's the other part of Cliff's post:
I get much more excited about local elections than the national stuff because I feel like those folks have more of an effect on my day to day life. You can have one crazy mayor with a lot of power and cripple a city for decades. The federal government doesn’t really work like that.
Local elections have more of an effect on your day to day life. You also have much more personal influence at the local level, and your voice and participation is more valuable. If you want to "take your country back" from whoever you fear in Washington, there is a very good place to start.
And I think, with the state of the country, your participation will be appreciated.
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