My Take

Well, every yahoo who can string together a few words is commenting on the election results.  Reckon I might as well, too.

Back when the health care reform was passed, lots of folks said they were going to remember it come November.  Looks like they weren’t kidding.  Not only did Congress pass a bill few people understood, they pushed through a bill they said had to be passed now or else.  According to polls at the time (and now, for that matter), a majority of people were agin the bill.  When people found out it was going to be 2014 before most of the major provisions kicked in, folks really got to wondering what the rush was when about 10% of Americans don’t have jobs.  Have said it before, folks ain’t gonna be happy ‘til there’s more jobs out there.  FDR figured that out and created several job programs.  Didn’t really help the economy at the time, but people felt better cuz they had paying jobs.

One exit poll I saw last night said people were mad about the economy first then health care reform then a list of other things including taxes, the war, and some other things.  Another poll I saw said just as many people were wanting to “fire” Nancy Pelosi with their votes as were wanting to send a message to President Obama they ain’t happy with his agenda.  Thought that was kind of interesting.

There are several other things I found interesting about the election.  In no particular order:

• Maybe it was just my perception, but seemed to be several media folks with long faces last night.  Not really sure what that means.  Can say I saw one Chicago reporter talking about the e-mails and tweets she was getting from the Dem party and President Obama asking the recipients to encourage people to get out and vote.  One can only wonder why she would be on those e-mail lists much less reporting on the content?  Maybe she’s on the Pub lists, too, but they just weren’t sending out that stuff. Yeah, right.;
• The last time the Pubs gained this many seats at once was right after Social Security was passed, which was very unpopular when it was passed, too;
• Was reminded last night if the Pubs do manage to pass a bill reversing the current health care reform bill, it will have to be signed by Mr. Obama, who has the power to veto it.  Just sayin’; 
• Many Dems wanted nothing to do with Obama during this election and actually called on Bill Clinton to campaign for them rather than the president.  Neither one of ‘em seemed to have helped much;
• Guess the American people didn’t really give the Dems a mandate back in ‘08.  Or, if they did, it was quickly revoked.  Voters sure can be fickle sometimes;
• Some exit polls reflected Pub voters think the gov’t is going too far and the Dem voters think the gov’t ain’t going far enough.  What a shock;
• All of a sudden, the Dems think both parties should work together rather than just one party dictating everything.  Imagine that;
• The Pubs claim they are not interpreting this election as being given a mandate…for now.  They say this is the American people saying it’s time to put up or shut up.  Voters ain’t happy with the Dems and the Pubs are the only alternative.  Imagine if they don’t like what the Pubs do the next two years, they’ll kick them out, too;
• California elected Dems in the two major races but weren’t so liberal-minded when it came to Prop 19, which would have legalized marijuana.  Got voted down by a purty healthy margin.  Guess they don’t want their weed taxed.  How anti-establishment of them;
• The Tea Party did fairly well.  They won some and they lost some.  Hear they don’t want to be a third party.  They just want to reform the GOP.  Think they would be better off splitting off on their own.  They’ve tapped into a lot of voter anger.  If their candidates in DE and NV hadn’t been so out there, they probably would have won those seats, too;
• Maybe it’s just me, but think the media is giving Sarah Palin a little too much credit for last night.  Yes, she endorsed some people who went on to win.  But, think people voted for those candidates despite Mrs. Palin rather than cuz of her.  Have my doubts many people will want to vote her into the Oval office as I heard insinuated several times last night.  Only time will tell…

Hope both parties learned an important lesson with this election.  While sometimes you have to show leadership courage and take folks down a path they may not want to go, there are times you have to listen to what the people are tryin’ to tell ya and change accordingly.  Ultimately, we voters have the final say-so on your job performance.  We the people have the power to pick and choose our leaders, and we ain’t afraid to use it.

Anyway, that’s what this yahoo thinks about the election.  Whether you are happy with the results or not, they are what they are.  It’s long been past time for folks to come together and find solutions rather than being hard-headed ninnies thinking they are the only ones with the answers.  If this bunch wants to be the latter, reckon they’ll find out who’s boss two years from now, too.

Y’all have a good one.