Later today, I'll be blogging about the results from the US midterm elections. It's coming on lunch hour here in the East so expect things to really pick up. What's good to see this time is the religious left finally getting the importance of getting out the vote (GOTV). A lot depends on those pesky, no paper trail voting terminals they have in 16 states that could determine the outcome of the Senate tonight. But one can only be optomistic.
For now, let me say that this has been an extremely nasty and brutal campaign with potshots from all sides -- many of them completely unwarranted. I also think that something Rep. Chris Shays -- a liberal Republican from Connecticut whose seat is actually in play today for the first time in ages -- said last night on CNN was à propos, that people are sick and tired of the polarization on both the left and right and want a return to the centre where large parts of both the GOP and the Democrats used to be. It's something we progressives have been talking about for quite some time now, and the fact that the media -- who largely supports the Republicans, not the Democrats, as most believe -- still doesn't understand that the radical centre has been ignored for so long is very disturbing.
I doubt tonight's results, no matter what they are, are going to change things all that much for the mindset of the MSM, particularly those who are the official organs of the GOP -- namely Fox News, ABC News and Sinclair Broadcasting. Let's face it, presuming control of the gavel paases all the media will be looking to report on is gridlock; when what really needs addressing are such things as the minimum wage, an extremely defective child tax credit, the exploitation of illegal immigrants, and the ability of the government to purchase drugs in bulk for its citizens (which Canada allows, but the Republicans incredibly voted to outlaw). In other words, making government work again for the people who own it.
If Congress can nudge George W Bush just a little back to the left and have him become once again the "compassionate conservative" he claimed to be in 2000, maybe he has some hope of rescuing a small part of his otherwise Nero-like legacy. If not, the real race for President in 2008 will not be the ballot two years hence, but the Democratic nomination for President -- and once again, it could be Iowa that ends it before it even begins.
In the meantime, today should be a lot of fun ... so stay tuned.
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