Election day 2005, cause for celebration

New Jersey continues to have a Democratic governor, and the candidate won by a larger margin than polls had indicated. Even more exciting, in the heavily Republican state of Virginia (where Bush won in 2004 by 9 points) the Democratic candidate for governor won, despite a last minute campaign appearance by Bush. Many pundits consider this a bellwether for the 2006 elections. In California, Ahnuld was seriously embarrassed -- all five ballot initiatives he was supporting were soundly defeated. In Maine, voters rejected a ballot initiative which would have legalized discrimination based on sexual orientation. Unfortunately, but not surprisingly, a "marriage amendment" in Texas won at the polls. But the news is largely very good.

I was frustrated by an email I received today from a fine liberal organization, People for the American Way. In it, they credit grassroots organizing for these many election victories. Of course citizen efforts are always important, but if liberal grassroots organizing were that effective, there would be a different president right now. Spin is no more attractive on the left than it is on the right. While I understand the need to celebrate and I understand the impulse to take credit, I think it's inappropriate and even dangerous for liberals to misrepresent and misunderstand this situation. The Republicans have made many mistakes and are having a curiously difficult time staying on message (I say curiously because they have been so damn good at it up until recently). Many national leaders are distracted by scandals and Bush seems to have lost a lot of his luster. But he has three more years in office and a lot can change in that amount of time. As many pundits note, many two-term presidents experience low job approval ratings in their second terms. It would be foolish to assume too much at this time and to take for granted that the tide has turned. Dems have a lot more work to do to make themselves a viable political force in this country. We better keep our sleeves rolled up.