Getting to see one's own perspective (sort of) prevail in November is a lovely feeling.
... And a little depressing, because if there's one thing we've recently been getting all kinds of lessons in it's the talent of leftists, and maybe of political movements generally, for snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.
We legalized Mary Jane in Washington State. We voted for gay marriage. We re-elected the relatively sane, apparently principled candidate for the presidency. Practical-minded egalitarian daisies seem to be popping up all over.
This has me waiting for the other shoe to drop, naturally.
Some of this may have to do with the regional plague of Seasonal Affective Disorder, which I'm a bit short of immune to. Some of it might have to do with the infamous tendency of Dems to eat our own (of course, the Republicans seem to be learning how to do that). Some of it may have to do with the ongoing tendency of the far right towards "crazy." ... And heavily-armed.
Mostly, though, I just don't see us, in the broader sense, actually learning very much from this election. It reflects some interesting (I dare even say, encouraging) patterns, but it didn't break the deadlock in Congress, and the president is not actually a member of the legislative branch. There's only so much he can do to break the stalemate.
This is purposeful. Lacking consensus or compromise, the federal government is brilliantly designed to do nothing at all. Dictatorships act quickly where democracies deliberate at length.
As in, for decades, sometimes.
It's a strength: we're slower to make mistakes. It's a weakness: a political deadlock can prevent the government from doing even what it absolutely must.
How much of a problem is this going to be? How much of an obstacle? Well, considering the ongoing obstructionist Republican attitude and the tendency of Dems not to turn out for midterm elections ...
I have hope, but also a lot of dread.
