Today’s elections are receiving quite a bit of national attention, and rightfully so I might add. The big three are two gubernatorial elections in VA and NJ and the House race in NY-23. Whatever the outcomes may be and I’ve looked at enough polling to realize the only real shot for Democrats is the NJ governor’s race, but whatever happens today, both sides are exaggerating the results. Democrats are downplaying the races saying that they are not a referendum on the president. While Republicans are bending over backwards to demonstrate that today’s elections are proof Obama is unpopular and that they have regained their footing.
Is it a referendum on Obama? Of course it is. Whoever says it’s not is mistaken. Obama supporters are a little less than motivated right now to do much more than half of what they did a year ago. What was accomplished this time last year was nothing short of amazing. Millions of people worked extremely hard to elect the first black president; someone who garnered hope and change and someone that sought a new course for this country not seen since JFK. Inspire us it still does but we are still waiting on results. We’ll take a hit in a couple governors’ races and a U.S. House race if it means our efforts are needed for the midterms rather than for this off year.
Results, however, are greatly needed from this administration before the base gets re-motivated. We are still waiting on health care reform, repeal of DADT, jobs to return and a president that will quit reaching out to an opposition that calls him a socialist, says he wants to setup death panels to kill undesirables, that organizes protests against him and labels his government as an un-American socialist tyrannical takeover. All of us are tired of that stuff. 69 million people voted for Obama so we wouldn’t have to kowtow to knuckle dragging Republicans anymore. There’s no quicker way to simmer the base than to motivate them to work harder than ever and then after your landslide election, tell us to be patient while the opposition party that has been tossed en masse the last 3 years gets to dictate policy.
So I do very much believe today’s elections are a referendum on Obama, especially from his base. We are all still waiting on results and we’ve been patient. If we are going to work hard again next year for the midterms, then we’re going to need more than patience. I don’t think the outcomes today spell out a national trend or showcase some sort of resurgence on behalf of the GOP. But it might if conspiracy theories are allowed to dictate the national debate. It definitely could be a long hard slog, or a bump, but whatever it is, it’s real.
