PERHAPS THE MID-TERMS WEREN’T AS BAD AS THEY SEEMED

Were the mid-term results actually just a message from the real American middle-class?

 

I believe that the message that came from the mid-term elections was not that the American public thought the Republicans were better at governing than the Democrats. 

Instead, I believe that it is becoming very clear that the average middle-class American was sending a message that they personally weren’t feeling any real effects of an improving economy.  They were also very upset that Congress & the president were not getting the nation’s business done.  The average American probably doesn’t care what a politician’s political persuasions are, until it affects them personally.  Therefore, with national wages stagnant, the minimum wage stalled, little real action on the nation’s broken immigration system, and all the nation’s economic benefits going to the top 1%, American’s made their feelings known in the voting booth.

As a case in point, here’s one example that shows that the Red states are not necessarily turning even more Red. 

 

 

In the very Red state of North Dakota, a totally insidious fetal personhood amendment (known there as Measure 1), went down to a major defeat.  But it didn't just fail, it got destroyed by a decisive 64-36% margin. That was an impressive loss for a Red state in such a Red wave election.

But it didn’t stop there.

Measure 1’s chief supporter, the Republican State Senator, Margaret Sitte, she also lost her election to the Democrat, Erin Oban, and also by a big very big margin of 58-41%.  This loss was not just a Red-state fluke.  Ms. Sitte was considered by many to be one of those far-right, Tea Party crazies, and the people made it clear that they were against her anti-choice activism, as well as her promotion of the personhood amendment.  In addition, the voters made it clear that they were against this State Senator’s opposition to a bill that that would require a child’s caretaker to notify the authorities if the child went missing or had died in their care.

Now why in the world would anyone oppose such a bill?

What makes Sitte's defeat even more amazing is that this North Dakota’s 35th District is traditionally very, very Red.  In fact, the district went for Mitt Romney 60-38% in 2012. That means the Democrat, Ms. Oban, out-performed Barack Obama by an astounding 39 points despite the nation’s massive GOP mid-term wave.

There may not be but a few other Democrats in the nation who can lay claim to a Red state success like this.  Especially In a year with very few positives for Team Blue.  But this also counts as news that the people, even in a truly Red state, decided what they thought was best for them and their district, and it wasn't the Republican candidate..

As another example that "all is not lost", here is an example of a winning Red state Governor showing why he should not be considered as a viable candidate for the 2016 presidential campaign.  All you need to do is to take a serious look at Wisconsin Governor, Scott Walker’s proposed comprehensive national energy plan.

After Governor Walker’s win over the Democrat Mary Burke, 52-46%, Walker made a statement as to what he thought the Republicans in Congress should enact as a comprehensive energy plan for the nation. 

Per Governor Walker, "To make the United States less dependent on foreign oil, they should approve the Keystone XL Pipeline”.

I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news for the governor, but the whole point of the Keystone XL Pipeline is to import “Canadian oil” into the US.  I would think that the Governor of Wisconsin, being so close to Canada, would be aware that Canadian oil is, “foreign oil”.

If Walker were really interested in the best thing for this country, I would recommend that he spend more time thinking about ways to reduce the nation’s dependence on fossil fuels altogether.  But as usual, he and the GOP continue to push their “Drill-baby-Drill” energy policy for the future.

Oh, the governor might also be interested to learn that US foreign oil imports are down by about 25% and the US today is more energy independent than ever, that is since President Obama took office.

As I had said, the mid-terms were disappointing, but not surprising.  But based on the above, in the end, the American voters will make their decisions based on what works for them and what doesn’t. 

 

If the Republican are true to form, it won’t take long for most of America’s voters to find out which party works for their benefit, and which only works for big business and the top 1%.

Copyright G.Ater  2014