Democratic Prospects in 2012

In 2012, Democrats have a good chance of picking up the U.S. Senate seat in Massachusetts currently held by Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA). In Nevada, Sen. John Ensign's (R-NV) ethics battles are far from over and if he is not primaried he will make a weak general election opponent. Let's not forget Connecticut, where Sen. Joe Lieberman (ID-CT) has a tough road to hoe with his approval ratings under 50 percent among Republicans, Democrats, and independents, which is a difficult trifecta to overcome. Count on a more reliable Democrat to win that race. In Virginia, Sen. Jim Webb (D-VA) or former Gov. Tim Kaine (D-VA), the current Chairman of the Democratic National Committee, would probably win in a match with former Sen. George Allen (R-VA). If Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-ME) is primaried by a Tea Party candidate that wins, she will likely have her seat filled by a Democrat in January 2013. Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA) will have a good chance at winning re-election, especially riding on President Obama's coattails. Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Ben Cardin (D-MD), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), and others in blue states will likely cruise to re-election.

Finally

Three days ago, I was a bitter and spent individual. I was trying to keep my hopes high, in the midst of the Great Recession, but I had been out of work since September 2009. I had applied to over 50 companies; I applied for more than one position at many of them. Of all of the possible employers out there, only one called me back this entire time. I went in for an interview, and was told I would hear back from them the next day for their decision. I waited...and waited. The weekend passed, and I called again to inquire about the position. The person that answered the phone told me that they hadn't made their decision yet, but that it should be made soon. One week passed. Two weeks. I called again, asking for the hiring manager. I was told that she wasn't in, and I should try again next week. Another three weeks passed, and I had applied at many, many more places without luck. And I still had heard nothing from the one interview I had done. I was angry. I felt conned. I thought that I should have at least been given the courtesy of a call. And then, it came. The hiring manager called and asked if I would like to come in for a second interview. I went in, and she told me that I would hear back from her the next day. "I've heard that before," I thought. And the next day, she called: she offered me the job. I was floored. I said "Yes!" excitedly, and I was at work the next morning. What a good feeling it is to have a job, to contribute to the economy and to earn money. I'd almost forgotten what it feels like. My confidence has been restored, and many of the problems I have had in the past six months will now fade away because I have a paying job. Now I know what it feels like, just a little, to really struggle. And it has made me a stronger man.

Comments on the Political Parties

Republicans are trying to say "divided government works better". The problem I have with the Republican approach is what if they win Congress? Will they approve President Obama's Executive Branch appointees without blackmailing him into approving their pork barrel projects? And will our government shut down like it did with President Clinton and the Republican Congress in the 1990s? And how would that effect our nation in the midst of a rocky recovery to the Great Recession? Republicans have often labeled Democrats as "tax-and-spend liberals", but the Democratic Party under President Obama has imposed "pay-as-you-go" rules in Congress, rules which were done away with by the Republican Party when they were in the majority. Under President Bush, Republicans might as well have been called "borrow-and-spend conservatives", what with the huge tax cuts in 2001 and 2003 to the wealthiest Americans and the Medicare prescription drug program, all of which were unfunded liabilities. Combined with the steep drop in tax revenues due to the Great Recession, plus the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and the budget surplus President Clinton handed to Bush turned into the record deficits we see today. If John McCain were elected President, he would have seen the same record deficits in 2009 that President Obama faced. The Recovery Act, aka the stimulus, has saved millions of jobs from being lost - teachers, firefighters, and police officers are working today because of it. And construction crews across the country are breaking ground on infrastructure projects that are improving roads and bridges and building high-speed rail. I must also confess that I believe moderates have their opinions heard much more in the Democratic Party than in the Republican Party. The power of moderate Democrats has never been greater; they were decisive in crafting a health insurance reform bill in the Senate without a public insurance option that will save over 150 billion dollars over the next ten years, with projected savings over one trillion dollars in the decade thereafter. And that bill would cover ninety-five percent of Americans and lower health care costs for small businesses; I honestly don't think that such a bill could have emerged without the influence of moderates in the Democratic Party.

The Race Is On: 2010 Midterm Elections

The GOP has now drunk the Kool-Aid. Having elected the first black chairman of the Republican National Committee (RNC), the Republican Party is now having to deal with the consequences of a man that is off-message with the Congressional leadership and heavily promoting a book that Michael Steele says is the blueprint for a GOP comeback. Nevermind that Steele has presided over the shrinking of the RNC's finances, to the point where it now trails the Democratic National Committee (DNC) going into the 2010 midterm elections. With the first black President of the United States currently in office, it would be political suicide for them to fire Steele now, which is what many Republicans desperately want to do. It's clear that he is incompetent, and his thin resume should be an indication of his political acumen (Steele served one term as Lieutenant Governor of Maryland and lost a U.S. Senate race against Democrat Ben Cardin in 2006.)*. If that weren't bad enough, the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), the GOP campaign arm in the House, has less money than its Democratic counterpart. And Republican retirements continue to outpace Democratic ones in both the House and Senate. Given that the Democrats are soon to pass health care reform, President Obama will have a big victory with which to move forward on a jobs package, a climate change bill, and immigration reform. What's more, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) was designed to switch into high gear in 2010, just in time for the midterms. No wonder Republicans are trying to play up their chances so much: they have no program or ideas to counter the Democrats, they continue to be less popular than the Democratic Party in every poll, and they have much to fear from tea party candidates running to the right of the Republican establishment in the upcoming primaries. For good or ill, the GOP does not have a lock on the tea party movement, which is inspired by radical conservatism. With the opposition party adrift, the Democrats have had to be the grown ups and run the country. They've done a lot of things that make me mad as hell, so don't think I'm a true-blue liberal. I oppose teachers unions because they stand in the way of education reform in California, and I think that tort reform - done the right way - could help bring down the astronomical cost of doctors' malpractice insurance. And though I don't see eye-to-eye with President Obama on his continuation of Bush's policy of rescuing the financial industry, I think he is a helluva lot better than the alternative. I'll take thoughtful and charismatic over bumbling and stupid any day.

*Compare that to former DNC Chairman Howard Dean, who served eleven years as Governor of Vermont and then ran a highly successful campaign for President in late 2003 by opposing the Iraq War and collecting small contributions given through the Internet; this provided the blueprint to Obama's eventual campaign victory. Dean then promoted a "50 state strategy" during his four years as DNC chairman; the Democrats won majorities in both houses of Congress in 2006 and elected Barack Obama as President and widened their Congressional majority in 2008.