And it’ll bite you in the rear every time.
The government is once again divided enough to prevent either party from pushing anything through without the approval of the people. We once again have a bulwark against the Legislative branch acting as a rubber stamp for the Executive. We once again have some semblance of balance.
Whether one perceives them as a third party or a fork of the GOP, the Tea Party showed some clout tonight. They proved themselves a force to be respected in Florida, Kentucky, and most shockingly, Wisconsin.
Now we see if they can govern. We might just see a few of those promises about fiscal responsibility kept in the coming weeks and months. Might.
If tonight was any indication, I’m not holding my breath.
To say that this was an ugly and expensive election would be a gross understatement. The rhetoric on both sides was sometimes regretful, and more than a few times offensive. I won’t begin to describe how distastefully, unprofessionally, and disrespectfully the gubernatorial candidates conducted themselves in the Georgia race. Neither of them deserves the job of a toll booth operator, much less stewardship of the state budget.
On the national level, the shadow of the Citizens United decision was palpable. Russ Feingold suffered one of the most startling upsets of the night, and the irony isn’t lost on me that it occurs on the heels of that. Ron Johnson’s campaign spent over $11 million to defeat him, but even that is a fraction of the money spent on races in California and elsewhere.
This is thought to be the most expensive election in history. Over $1 billion was spent by both sides on advertising. Is this the fiscal responsibility for which we were ostensibly voting? I can’t shake the feeling that we’ve put a bunch of rowdy freshmen into office based on shouted recitations from the party checklist.
…which puts us in the same place we were two years ago today, just with different names on the door.