To All The Liberals

[12thMan]

Originally Posted by FRPLG

What all the liberals on here fail to realize is that Obama did not get elected based on his legislative agenda. That stuff appeals to you and his undeniable success in enacting it fools you into believing he did what he said he was going to do because that is the stuff you care about. He did a damn fine job of getting legislation through that you all like. What he didn't do. What he has failed so miserably at is what he promised he would do when he got elected. HOPE AND CHANGE. That is a much bigger idea. Spin it however you want tonight is an affirmation that his HOPE AND CHANGE mantra was what got him elected. People are tired of all of them...they think the system doesn't work. BO promised to come and fix that. He hasn't even tried. So tonight that part of his agenda, the most important part, he was held accountable for. The Pubs will come in and do nothing to fix it and we'll be back here again in two years. Rinse repeat.

That's one way to look at it, but with all due respect I think your analysis, while partially correct, is still a little short sighted of what happened last night.

Midterms are ALL about voter turnout and which side has the most energy. Less than 50% of Americans are registered to vote. And less than 50% of THOSE people turned out yesterday. So, from state to state, you had between 23% and 30% of the population of those states determining who was going to govern the entire population of those states. This year it was unquestionably the GOP energized by the Tea Party and other right wing elements.

The spin that this was a referendum on Obama sounds good, but support for Obama's agenda, for him as a president, and for him as a person, are all fairly decent, when you ask ALL Americans. Republicans and the Tea Party failed miserably at making any real inroads in reliably blue districts, couldn't unseat a vulnerable Harry Reid, didn't make a dent in either race in California despite all the money they threw around. So the message against HOPE and CHANGE wasn't as resounding as some would like to portray it. Still the White House didn't like waking up to a Republican majority this morning. Things just got harder.