I'm watching the early results on the election, and of course it is not going well for the Democrats. Holding the Senate will be the big victory if the Dems can pull it off.
As I watch the returns, I'm asking myself why didn't Obama get out and campaign more to educate the public about all the good his administration his done.
After being elected with such soaring rhetoric in 2008, why couldn't he have brought those skills to bear to get out the story of the people who have been helped?
Perhaps he felt that deeds would speak louder than words. True enough. They often do. But we need to know what the has been done.
The only rhetorical refrain that has resonated was his analogy that the Republicans wanted the keys back after crashing the car into the ditch. It was an accurate analogy, but was not enough to push back against the tsunami of T.E.A. party rhetoric.
Part of what happened was that the T.E.A. party candidates were given free reign on the political landscape. Their rallies should have been answered with progressive rallies all along. The Democrats needed an image makeover, and they needed it much earlier.
It is probably fair enough to say that the impact of the T.E.A. party movement had not been anticipated early enough.
The Jon Stewart rally may have helped a little, but Stewart was not trying to save the Democrats. If he had been trying to save them, it was too little, too late.
Which is sadly the best way to sum up the Democratic campaigns this year.
But I'm watching the returns and waiting to see how it actually works out.
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