It could not possibly be any clearer than it is today. We needed a wake up call.
Over the past 4 years, we as progressives have grown accustomed to the novelty of watching election returns trickle in and being amazed at ourselves that we could actually take the tide of this nation back from the Republicans.
Well, those days are now officially over.
I know he takes a lot of hits on this site, but Chris Matthews has it absolutely right when he says that the American people are mad...and they're going to be mad at whoever is in power, regardless of party.
Just look at anyone texting while driving, talking on the phone while typing, getting bored by listening to something for 15 seconds and you will realize that we live in an ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) society. We have grown increasingly so through the 20th century, and continue at an exponential rate in the 21st.
How is this relevant?
OUR GRACE PERIOD IS OVER.
We now need to sell the American people on the fact that we CAN govern successfully...and we need to show them RESULTS.
Health Care Reform that begins in earnest in 2013 will not only continue our losing streak in 2010, but it will also probably make Obama a one-term president.
Assuming the American people are intelligent enough to call BS on the right-wing's, well, BS...is just such a terrible mistake.
We need to convince the worker who doesn't have the time to listen to us that we are RIGHT.
We need to convince the mother who doesn't have the time to listen to us that we are RIGHT.
We need to convince the media who doesn't have the time to think that we are RIGHT.
How do we do that? It's not my area of expertise. But the Republicans are DAMN SUCCESSFUL at it.
When Rachel Maddow was interviewing Howard Dean, he said something along the lines of:
"George Bush would have had Health Care done months ago. He would have had something to show for it......Republicans have always been better at message, they just fail when they get into power."
Both comments are incredibly poignant.
We need to prove our case to the American People or we will fail.
We are no longer the opposition party.