The elections are now over and while here in Maine we’re still waiting for the outcome of the close race between Cutler and the homophobic LePage, the rest of the political landscape has changed considerably. The GOP has taken control of the House and even though the Tea Party was not as powerful as was speculated, they still had an apparent effect in this highly unpredictable election. Despite being primary targets of the Tea Party, both Harry Reid and Barney Frank were re-elected. In California, Democrat Jerry Brown defeated Meg Whitman, who spent $142 million of her own money in a desperate attempt to buy the election. Without Meg in office to defend Prop 8, we may see it die before any chance of appeal, as it should! Here in Maine both Democratic incumbents for the House, Chellie Pingree and Mike Michaud, were re-elected. In fact, Mike Michaud is Maine’s longest-serving congressman, now going into his 5th term. So much for the power of the Tea Party. As Maine goes…
I am not especially concerned about the GOP taking control of the House. The Tea Party has based its platform on smaller government and drastically lowered taxes. Now is their chance to put their money where their mouth is. In the next couple years I predict Tea Party supporters will be just as disillusioned as die-hard Obama supporters have been in the past couple years. I am disgusted by the hyberbole surrounding the Tea Party campaign, but I was equally disgusted by that of the Obama craze, especially among my college-aged peers. My vote for Obama was nothing more than a vote against Palin.
Unfortunately in this highly polarized political climate, we are often forced to vote for lesser evils. Almost nothing has changed since Obama took office two years ago; we are still at war in the Middle East and our troop numbers have only increased, Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell still stands and it looks like it’s not going away for a long time, same-sex marriage hasn’t budged, and the nation has not become any less racist. The kind of change politicians talk about, whether Obama or the Tea Party, takes a long time and rushing to make a decision for the sake of making a decision more often results in disaster. And I wouldn’t worry about hope, either – the general trend is that things stay the same. Lately the choice between candidates is really like choosing chocolate or vanilla – no matter what flavor you choose, you’ve still got ice cream, or perhaps tea in this case.
Welcome to the Tea Party
Want to be my VIP?
You didn’t RSVP
That’s ok, that’s ok
Let’s be traditional
And non commissional
Got my elbows down, pinkies up
That’s the way you sip my cup