25th November 2014, 2:41 PM
I did my patriotic duty by voting in this year's midterms. It didn't help (yes, I still live in Alabama), but if nothing else, I've earned the right to complain about how much the government sucks.
When this year began, I felt confident that the Democrats could at least hold the Senate and maybe regain a few seats in the House. From all the polls I saw, it seemed that people were frustrated with the GOP acting like a bunch of overgrown brats who only care about getting their way, spiting the president, and looking out for corporate interests while belittling the working class as being lazy, entitled, and incompetent. Polls further indicated that the people supported such liberal policies as increasing the minimum wage, legalizing same-sex marriage, and decriminalizing marijuana. And of course, most people blamed the Republicans for shutting the government down (which was their fault; as much as they tried to pretend they didn't want to do it afterwards, we live in the 21st century, and so there is ample documentation of all the times they threatened to do it). One study even determined that the modern day GOP is the most hated party in American history.
So when I heard that Republicans were poised to take control of the Senate and gain an even larger majority in the House, all I could think was... why? Just... why? Why do voters vote for liberal policies but Republican candidates who make it perfectly clear that they intend to do the opposite? Do the American people have a short-term memory when it comes to Republican wrongdoings? Why are we so quick to forgive the Republicans for all the things they have done and continue to do? If the government shutdown had happened in October of 2014 rather than October of 2013, would they have won? Was a year's difference all that was needed for them to garner the support of the American people again? It's not like they've done anything productive or helpful in the last year.
If Congress's approval rating is 11% on a good day (and I'm aware that this rating accounts for those who are unhappy with Congressional Democrats as well), then why was over 90% of that Congress reelected?
And of course, most baffling of all, is this guilt by association with President Obama. Sure, roughly two out of five Americans still approve of the job he's doing, but the other three out of five don't even see him as the president. They don't even see him as American. They see him not as our twice democratically elected commander in chief, but as a dictator of the same ilk as Adolf Hitler (that's their own hyperbole, not mine, and it's not a new one either). Even if the people support the same policies as him, such as raising the minimum wage and ensuring equal pay for equal work, the moment his name is attached to a policy, they're up in arms. Since 2009, I've always wondered... what was it he's done that's so horrendously despicable? With Bush's post-presidential approval rating on the rise, it once again appears that Republicans can do no wrong and can be forgiven even for unnecessary wars, uncontrolled spending and deficits, and an imploding economy, but Obamacare is the greatest evil this country has ever known. Part of it is the "liberal" media's spin on the state of our nation. Listening to Fox News, you'd think we're still in a recession and that unemployment and the deficit are still rising, even though the opposite has been true since the beginning of 2010. You'd also think that ISIS is going to kill us all, or that Ebola is going to kill us all, or that Benghazi was the worst terrorist attack in American history, and that it was worth wasting taxpayer dollars on a fake scandal investigation that eventually determined that the Obama Administration did not, in fact, try to cover the whole thing up to win an election (and there was no evidence to suggest this anyway). I don't see why Democrats need to distance themselves from the president in order to garner support, but if that's what it takes, then they can't be faulted for it. Obama is hardly what I would call the abysmal failure that Megyn Kelly wants us to think he is.
I keep going off on tangents here, but yeah... I just don't get it. I get that old white people are the main ones who vote in midterm elections, but the GOP doesn't have their interests at heart either, so... I still don't get it. I'm a little bit more optimistic about 2016 as long as Hillary stays ahead in the polls. She's not my first choice, but I'll take her. (I'd personally prefer someone who doesn't think of the word "liberal" as a pejorative and who is willing to call out the Republicans for their BS like Elizabeth Warren or Bernie Sanders, but few people even know who they are.)
When this year began, I felt confident that the Democrats could at least hold the Senate and maybe regain a few seats in the House. From all the polls I saw, it seemed that people were frustrated with the GOP acting like a bunch of overgrown brats who only care about getting their way, spiting the president, and looking out for corporate interests while belittling the working class as being lazy, entitled, and incompetent. Polls further indicated that the people supported such liberal policies as increasing the minimum wage, legalizing same-sex marriage, and decriminalizing marijuana. And of course, most people blamed the Republicans for shutting the government down (which was their fault; as much as they tried to pretend they didn't want to do it afterwards, we live in the 21st century, and so there is ample documentation of all the times they threatened to do it). One study even determined that the modern day GOP is the most hated party in American history.
So when I heard that Republicans were poised to take control of the Senate and gain an even larger majority in the House, all I could think was... why? Just... why? Why do voters vote for liberal policies but Republican candidates who make it perfectly clear that they intend to do the opposite? Do the American people have a short-term memory when it comes to Republican wrongdoings? Why are we so quick to forgive the Republicans for all the things they have done and continue to do? If the government shutdown had happened in October of 2014 rather than October of 2013, would they have won? Was a year's difference all that was needed for them to garner the support of the American people again? It's not like they've done anything productive or helpful in the last year.
If Congress's approval rating is 11% on a good day (and I'm aware that this rating accounts for those who are unhappy with Congressional Democrats as well), then why was over 90% of that Congress reelected?
And of course, most baffling of all, is this guilt by association with President Obama. Sure, roughly two out of five Americans still approve of the job he's doing, but the other three out of five don't even see him as the president. They don't even see him as American. They see him not as our twice democratically elected commander in chief, but as a dictator of the same ilk as Adolf Hitler (that's their own hyperbole, not mine, and it's not a new one either). Even if the people support the same policies as him, such as raising the minimum wage and ensuring equal pay for equal work, the moment his name is attached to a policy, they're up in arms. Since 2009, I've always wondered... what was it he's done that's so horrendously despicable? With Bush's post-presidential approval rating on the rise, it once again appears that Republicans can do no wrong and can be forgiven even for unnecessary wars, uncontrolled spending and deficits, and an imploding economy, but Obamacare is the greatest evil this country has ever known. Part of it is the "liberal" media's spin on the state of our nation. Listening to Fox News, you'd think we're still in a recession and that unemployment and the deficit are still rising, even though the opposite has been true since the beginning of 2010. You'd also think that ISIS is going to kill us all, or that Ebola is going to kill us all, or that Benghazi was the worst terrorist attack in American history, and that it was worth wasting taxpayer dollars on a fake scandal investigation that eventually determined that the Obama Administration did not, in fact, try to cover the whole thing up to win an election (and there was no evidence to suggest this anyway). I don't see why Democrats need to distance themselves from the president in order to garner support, but if that's what it takes, then they can't be faulted for it. Obama is hardly what I would call the abysmal failure that Megyn Kelly wants us to think he is.
I keep going off on tangents here, but yeah... I just don't get it. I get that old white people are the main ones who vote in midterm elections, but the GOP doesn't have their interests at heart either, so... I still don't get it. I'm a little bit more optimistic about 2016 as long as Hillary stays ahead in the polls. She's not my first choice, but I'll take her. (I'd personally prefer someone who doesn't think of the word "liberal" as a pejorative and who is willing to call out the Republicans for their BS like Elizabeth Warren or Bernie Sanders, but few people even know who they are.)