First off, you
know we’re not afraid to be blunt. So we’ll just come out and say it: last
night was rough. We registered more voters, and made more phone calls, and
knocked on more doors than ever before. But we were still left with
heartbreaking losses.
Although make no mistake: last night’s results were no
accident. It was the result of Republicans’ cynical political strategy that put
hurting President Obama before helping the American people. The President put
it best just a few months ago:
There has been a certain cynical genius to what some of
these folks have done in Washington. What they’ve realized is, if we don’t get
anything done, then people are going to get cynical about government and its
possibilities of doing good for everybody. And since they don’t believe in
government, that’s a pretty good thing.
And the more
cynical people get, the less they vote. And if turnout is low and people don’t
vote, that pretty much benefits those who benefit from the status quo.
-- President Barack
Obama (August 29, 2014)
In other words, the Republicans broke Washington. Then,
they spent millions of dollars of secret money running against a broken
Washington.
So yeah, last
night was rough. It’s infuriating that Republicans’ cynical strategy worked.
But we refuse to give in to them. We refuse to give in to the cynicism. As
President Obama always says, “hope is a better choice.”
And believe it or not, there were some bright spots last
night that give us hope. Here are just a few examples:
FLORIDA
Republican Congressman Steve Southerland is the
poster-child for Republicans’ anti-woman agenda.
He opposed the
Violence Against Women Act. He voted to defund Planned Parenthood. He even held
an all-male fundraiser where the invite actually said, “Tell the Misses not to
wait up […] because the after dinner whiskey and cigars will be smooth &
the issues to discuss are many.”
WHAT YOU MADE POSSIBLE: We registered 9,958 new
Democratic voters in the district.
For the first time
in our history, we supplemented our field program with a voter registration
program. In addition, our larger, more targeted field program knocked on 75,000
doors.
THE RESULT: We defeated Rep. Southerland by 2,193 votes.
We’re so glad you
gave us the chance to execute that voter registration program -- it made all
the difference. And we’re so happy to welcome CongressWOMAN-elect Gwen Graham.
NEBRASKA
Republican Congressman Lee Terry voted to shut down the
government.
And if that wasn’t
bad enough, when Congressman Terry wouldn’t give up his government paycheck
during the shutdown, he replied, “Dang straight… I've got a nice house and a
kid in college.”
WHAT YOU MADE POSSIBLE: We launched a massive early vote
program that gave Democrats a 5,262 vote advantage.
When we told you
we could beat Boehner’s Republicans -- even in deep-red states, we weren’t
kidding. We personally reached out to nearly 40,000 voters on the ground. And
when the Republicans ran an attack that was called “unspeakably racist,” we got
on the air and fought back.
THE RESULT: We defeated Rep. Terry by 4,132 votes.
Because of the
work you made possible, Congressman Terry is going to have a lot more time to
spend in that “nice house” of his.
ARIZONA
Arizona House Speaker Andy Tobin was a chief architect of
SB 1062, better known as the “No Gays Allowed” bill.
Under Tobin’s
bill, businesses could deny service to customers simply because they’re gay.
WHAT YOU MADE POSSIBLE: We invested in community organizers
early and often.
We knew defeating
Tobin was going to be tough, so we made a huge investment on the ground. We put
field staffers on the ground earlier than ever before. In particular, we
focused on organizing tribal communities.
THE RESULT: We defeated Speaker Tobin by 9,346 votes.
None of this would
have been possible without your support. You broke every grassroots fundraising
record we have -- and then some. And each one of those $5 and $50 donations
allowed us to pull off these upsets -- even in a tough year.
So now the question is: what’s next?
Let’s start with
the obvious: Republicans have won control of Congress -- so now they have no
excuses. They can’t just sit back and blame Democrats like President Obama,
Harry Reid, and Nancy Pelosi. They’ll have to stand up and try to convince
people that the Republican agenda is better than the Democratic agenda.
That’s a fight
we’re looking forward to.
Send more money in rick. Obama needs it for his retirement. Joining Congressional for for his golf addition won't be cheap after he leaves office and won't be able to play military courses for free anymore.
ReplyDeleteYeah rick, send it in. That is if you have anything left after supporting Hagen.
Not to worry William, you will be helping to support Obama for the rest of his life. Cheers
DeleteI'm angling to get his caddy job.
DeleteThe age gap between younger voters and seniors was huge in 2010 and had a lot to do with the Republican wave election. As NBC News’ exit polls found, this was even more pronounced yesterday.
ReplyDeleteThe electorate in midterm elections is much older than in presidential years, with those aged 60 and older generally outnumbering those under 30 by more than 2-to-1 margins. For example, in the 2012 presidential election, 25% of voters were age 60 and older while 19% were under 30 years old. That 6 point difference between the oldest and youngest voters’ share of the electorate is similar to the 5 to 9 point gap registered in the prior three presidential elections.
In today’s midterms, 37% of voters are over the age of 60 but only 12% of are under 30 years old. This 25 point difference is larger than the 16 to 20 point age gap seen in the last three midterms.
It’s sort of a good-news-bad-news situation for Democrats. The good news is, the party still enjoys a sizable advantage with younger voters, which will help Dems in the years ahead. The bad news is, they only tend to show up in large numbers every four years, even when the party needs them every two years.
Looking at the data from U.S. House races held nationwide, voters under 30 were one of the Democrats’ best constituencies, favoring Dems over Republicans by 11 points. On the other hand, these voters were also the smallest sliver of the age groups, representing just 13% of this year’s electorate.
NBC News’ report added:
There was a time when this midterm age gap would have little effect on an election’s outcome, but that suddenly changed ten years ago when young voters became decidedly more Democratic than their older counterparts.
Throughout the 1990s, the youngest and oldest voters tended to vote the same way. For example, in the 1994 election which resulted in a Republican takeover of the House of Representatives, 48% of voters under 30 voted for the Democratic candidate for Congress and an identical 48% of voter age 60 and older did the same. This trend continued through the 2002, when 49% of young voters and 48% of older voters cast Democratic House ballots.
Again, there’s reason for Democrats to see this as an encouraging sign. Younger voters used to be entirely up for grabs, but now we’re looking at a generation that not only leans left, but does so far more than any other age group. As a long-term proposition, that’s bad news for Republicans, who now rely heavily on the nation’s oldest generation.
But this only matters when voters under 30 are prepared to stand up and be counted. This year, they weren’t.
Dylan Scott added, “[This] analysis rang true for those supporting Democrats in key battleground states on Election Day. One source familiar with the Colorado Senate race told TPM on Tuesday that youth turnout there had been ‘pathetic.’”
In today’s midterms, 37% of voters are over the age of 60 but only 12% of are under 30 years old. This 25 point difference is larger than the 16 to 20 point age gap seen in the last three midterms.
ReplyDeleteIt’s sort of a good-news-bad-news situation for Democrats. The good news is, the party still enjoys a sizable advantage with younger voters, which will help Dems in the years ahead. The bad news is, they only tend to show up in large numbers every four years, even when the party needs them every two years.
Explain to me please why a large number of younger voters who did not vote automatically equates to democratic appeal.... Sounds like a sever case of rational thinking...
I watched some of the post mortem spin last night on MSNBC. Democrats are really hanging up on these turnout numbers. It's true as far as it goes, but given the historical trend of midterms, there wasn't really anything special about the results this week. I may start another post, but I find it very curious that in states where there were initiatives to legalize pot, raise the minimum and create a law of "personhood" for a fetus, the voters basically voted on way for the issues and then completely the opposite way by choosing a candidate who represented polar opposite views. In simple terms, they voted like Democrats on the issues, but still chose a Republican. I think this dissconnect says more than turnout
DeleteHey Max.
DeletePerhaps a message of discontent on the state of the economy. Decent full time jobs are difficult to come by unless your in a specialty field or have a successful work record.
Perhaps a message that the agenda isn't what people think is important. Little was heard from your president except he intends to use his executive authority. Not a great solution as in 2 years, his executive authority as well as orders as toast.
One of the best on our ballot is meetings open to the public for union negotiations with the teachers unions. And it passed. I laughed all the way through that one. As you know that can be good and bad, the union today in negotiations can spin it anyway they want however now it's all out in the open.
As you may know Mark Uterus our senator went down in flames. A fitting end for a career politician. He'll be back with a new message in 6 years.