Each week I write a political editorial that affects you and the world around you.
This week’s political editorial: My Reaction to 2014 Midterm Election.
November 4th, was surely a night to remember. What America thought was impossible became the possible, with Republicans sweeping the Senate election race and the governor race across the nation especially here in Massachusetts–Not to mention that pot is now legal in Washington, D.C. And the politics that really dominated the air waves of this race was, of course President’s Obama presidency.
It seems as though you don’t need to have any government experience to run for office. As long as you have enough TV attack ads to criticize the president and attach any of his progressive policies to a candidate, that you can win election! And more importantly you can suppress a significant portion of citizens from not voting at all, which I think happened in this Midterm election. And so my reaction to this Midterm election was shocking and disappointing–disappointing in regards to Martha Coakley and Celeste Ribeiro Myers’ lost in the Massachusetts Gubernational race.
In June of 2014, after the Supreme Court upheld to lift the cap on Political Spending, I made a prediction on Twitter (and a radio talk on UR Business Network: Money and Politics inside the Supreme Courthouse of The United States), that “midterms elections will be ugly” and sure enough I was right. But the biggest thing you should take away from this election is the geography.
If you take a look at the map above, you will see the geography of how the election was fought–the distinct colors of state, corresponding to their political parties. A lot of people may not know is that most of the contested states were, for the most part, Republican states–and if not were surrounded by Republican states. And so it was very hard for any Democrat to have strong hold over a state, when it was a Republican state to begin with. But the key states that were fought for the soul of the Senate (just to name a few) were North Carolina, Virginia, Iowa, and New Hampshire. These were considered “up for grabs” states since they switch their allegiance from one party to another on each election. And as you can see from the map Republicans were not only successful in their geography but their unlimited resources (due in part of the Supreme Court’s decision to lift the cap on Political Spending)–to attack the name “Obama” and attach it to his supporters via air waves. This is in a sense of how politics in this country works. Rather than talk about ideas of progress or mobolizing people to exercise their civic duty to vote, it was more about “mud-slinging” and collecting votes, especially if you have friends at the Supreme Court level who can bend the rules on fair play: Striking down a Key Provision of Voting Rights Act of 1965 and Political Spending).
In all honesty, politics is about helping people and marshaling positive ideas to move people forward especially to the polls. Today it’s about slinging mud to an oppressor, when there is no oppression to begin with or collecting votes. In this case, it seems to me that Republicans only want to repeal Obamacare for their own benefit and not the benefit of the whole country, which has cost America a government shutdown. Now with this seized golden opportunity, Republicans (in both houses) can now bend the will of the president, and have him serve their needs, without thinking twice to those who don’t share their ideals or financial means to get by in life. Rand Paul admittedly said that the GOP has done a terrible job of reaching out to the minority community, so what makes you think that this election will be any different? Maybe now, with their newly claimed territory in the Senate House, will Republicans reach out to the minority community and engage in their issues.
So here are my predictions from here to 2016:
- President Obama’s legacy in the White House will be more to difficult to create and restore after the huge fallout of congressional seats in both houses.
- More gridlock than bipartisanship in DC because of prior failed attempts to agree on any issue. There will never be a bi-partisan up-down vote on any proposal, except for Immigration, but only if, Republicans will be willing to consider serious reforms and object bias opinions. Moreover, there will be more “blocks” and “vetoes” until someone blinks. But “executive orders” from the President will be a defining moment in his Presidential legacy
- The Hilary Clinton campaign will need to have a serious assessment of how to enter the Presidential race, even if they consider a bid for President in 2016.
- Possible repeal in ObamaCare, and a possible implementation of Keystone Oil pipeline
- Possible cuts in Education and other programs (Medicare, Unemployment insurance, etc) that many Americans still see as a valuable.
Personal Note: On a personal note I want to send my best wishes to Celeste Ribeiro Myers and Martha Coakley for a hard fought campaign–and I am deeply saddened by your loss. I am a big fan of you and your principles of fairness and equal opportunity for everyone–the same principles that have led me here two years ago, to campaign for Elizabeth Warren on the Massachusetts Democratic Party campaign. I know this is a huge set back for Massachusetts but these same principles still exists in the hearts of many, which have made Boston and the Commonwealth great.
