Dear Harry, and everybody who works for you:
Republicans never had 59 Senate seats, and that did not stop them from
passing the legislation they wanted. Trying to explain to the American
people how, despite controlling everything, Democrats cannot do
anything, because a mean minority of 41 Republican senators won’t let
them, is a message that will go over like a lead balloon. If you try to
use that excuse, people will think elected Democrats are liars, wimps,
idiots, or an ineffectual combination of all three.
And I KNOW, okay, about how hard it all is, and how the rules work, but out here in the world where yesterday my family had a chance to not be screwed out of health care and today they apparently don’t, I don’t CARE, and neither does anybody else. If you are seriously buying the bullshit that people vote against politicians who are OMG MEEEN, if you are seriously taking Chris Matthews and his ilk at their word that it matters who is perceived as bipartisan, I would like you to go outside and hit yourself in the head very hard with something heavy.
People vote for those they think are going to make their lives better, first. Second, they vote for people they think aren’t pussies. And if you think it’s any more complicated than that, you need to go back to People School. We ain’t learned this by now, we ain’t learning it, so goddamn STUDY.
By all accounts Coakley was shitty candidate who ran a shitty campaign, but let’s be honest here. There is no reason for this to be the end of the world or for us to act like it is. There is no reason for this to be the cause of shitting on progressive activists, or netroots activists, or older voters, or younger voters, or people who only sent e-mails, or people who knocked on doors and don’t know what the Internet is, or ANYBODY. That was not “Ted Kennedy’s seat” and we did not have the French Revolution last night. That was a Massachusetts Senate seat and they have the right to elect whatever stupid fucking hairdo they want, and we can fix it next time around if we want that too. We’re not a goddamn hereditary monarchy and there’s no reason to act like the earth is caving in and we all have to go home now and complain loudly. (It is, just not because of this.) Health care can still get done. And if we think it can’t, just because of one loss, we’re letting people off the hook who deserve to dangle up there a while longer.
There are still plenty of votes to get things done. And there are still plenty of opportunities to fuck over Republicans if that’s what gets you hot. The loss of one seat shouldn’t scuttle a whole agenda. Quit buying into Republican and media/punditry bullshit. And GET BACK UP.
No love, at the moment,
A.