Yesterday's off- year elections were a mixed bag for progressives, but generally not good. Mix low- information (but angry!) voters with a hint of chicanery and subtract indifferent Democrats who can't get "motivated" to show up at the polls (only 31 percent of the electorate showed up) and you have Republican wins.
Karoli at Crooks & Liars has an interesting take on the results from the state elections in Kentucky yesterday:
Look at these races. Compare the number of votes cast for Democrats.
Jack Conway: 426,964
Alison Lundergan Grimes 493,600
Andy Beshear 479,929
Adam Edelen (who still lost) 450,316
[snip]
In order to believe these results as they are right now, we have to believe Democrats split the ticket and voted for Dems everywhere but the Governor's race. I'm not sure I buy that. [snip]
You know what that leaves for me? Voting machines.Read the rest of the argument and you'll start to wonder if there was enough chicanery for the ultra- right- wing Republican Matt Bevin to prevail. (We would also wonder how many Kentuckians who voted for Bevin are participants in the Kynect (state Obamacare) program and know he's promised to scuttle it.)
Meanwhile, No More Mister Nice Blog's Steve M. sees the results (and recent presidential polling) as a serious warning to progressives (we plead guilty) who assume the chaotic, nihilistic, racist, homophobic, hypocritical, science- denying, downright stupid sh*tshow that Republicans have been staging for years would have Americans running away in droves. Think again:
It may not matter how crazy the GOP candidate is -- Republicans are fired up in every election, desperate to nullify the Obama era, while it's difficult to inspire Democrats to vote. Why do we automatically assume that Democrats will suddenly be hungry for a win next year?Maybe it's best to take a far more sanguine approach than to assume the average voter doesn't have their head up their ass.
The right stirs up rage every day, in election season and out, so by Election Day there's a long list of grievances motivating Republican voters in every election. In Kentucky this year it may have been Kim Davis; in Houston, it was the specter of men in women's bathrooms. Next year, it'll be something else.
Are we sure something's going to motivate Democrats to vote next year -- even against Carson? Are we sure the polls won't be significantly underestimating Republicans' strength -- again?
