We Won. Now We Must Make it a Habit

So the mid-term elections are over, and with a couple of exceptions we got what we needed and wanted to get – Progressives retained our majority in the Senate, and if Georgia comes to its senses we’ll even gain a seat, so the Supreme Court is safe for another two years, a bill to institutionalize the right to marry who you want has already been introduced, and we’ll see what can be done about women’s right to self-determination where their bodies and health are concerned. All good.

A lot of the success in the mid-terms was due to turnout, which was great, and one can only hope that it reflects people’s realization that only by voting can they protect themselves and their rights from those who would take them away. Another big factor was effective campaigning, particularly by POTUS and former President Obama. More than their personalities, however, was the nature of their campaigning – they spoke to the issues at stake and to the Democrats’ plans to attack those issues, while the Republicans continued to blame the Democrats for inflation, gas prices, and other issues they have little control over, and presented no plans or anything of substance.

Most importantly, MAGA candidates for Secretary of State in a number of states were defeated, which was a vote for election integrity and against the big lie.

So well done, and now what? Some things have changed – Trump appears, for now at least, to have lost credibility even with his so-called base. When he made a historically early announcement that he’d be running for President in 2024, the New York Post, previously a staunch supporter, ran a banner at the bottom of its page one saying “Florida man makes announcement. Page 25”.

And some things have changed for the worse. The GOP won a slim majority in the House, and that means the feckless Kevin McCarthy will attempt to fill the Speaker’s chair, there will be futile attempts to investigate President Biden and his son Hunter, and bills of impeachment will no doubt be born and die in the House – the Republicans’ campaign of lies and smears will continue, and only the Senate will be a check on whatever insanity the Republicans in the House try to pull off.

I think the most important lesson from the 2022 mid-terms is this: If we vote in numbers, if we campaign on substantive issues, and if we raise up candidates of real character and substance, we can win. So my message remains the same: vote, get out the vote, run for office, support progressive candidates, and above all, keep fighting. The last thing we can afford is to be complacent.