If I had a magic wand, or three wishes from a genie or Faery godmother, I'd quietly arrange for the Democrats to trounce the Republicans in tomorrow's elections. Right now it looks to me as though the Democrats have already given up -- they've been working themselves into a snit for months, and won't it be nice for them to stop even pretending to try? They can blame the Republicans, and the Professional Left, and just wallow in a big puddle of self-pity and Thanksralphery. I think they want out. And while I've written before that since most Democratic pols would rather lose to Republicans than vote against the corporate agenda, they should get what they want -- and I still feel that way -- at my most serious I despise the Democrats too much to let them get off that easily.Today a co-worker of mine posted a link on Facebook to a CNN poll that showed the "number of Americans who say things are going badly in the country, at 75 percent, is higher than it has been on the eve of any midterm election since the question was first asked in the mid-1970s". That's higher than 1994, higher than 2006.
The top concern remains unemployment, with 58 percent saying it's the most important economic issue facing the country today, followed by the deficit at 20 percent, and taxes and mortgages tied at 8 percent each.Interestingly, the article also mentioned that the "economy has been the issue most on the mind of Americans in CNN polling since the end of 2007." 2007, of course, is the Bush administration. Republicans have been furious that Obama has accused them of getting us into the current mess. Obama neglects to mention the Democrats' collaboration, of course, but the Republicans shouldn't escape their share of the blame.
So if I could, I'd keep the Democrats in control (hah!) of Congress et cetera for the next two years. Wouldn't it be funny if they woke up on Wednesday with the Republicans in defeat and disarray, their own script of betrayal by the Democratic rank and file belied by events? The corporate media would have to scramble to rewrite their own script of Democratic failure to be centrist enough, the True Pure Centrists would splutter in frustration, and the Democrats would still have to decide what to do about the banks, taxes, Social Security, and Afghanistan. I can't think of a better reason for voting Democratic tomorrow.