Events and Data on the heels of the great Democratic Convention, the mendacity and downright ikky-ness of Romney-Ryan, the incredibly great polling data from literally all over the country and in every swing state, suggests that Obama will destroy Romney. But that in itself is problematic. It ought to be a progressive priority to work on the down-ticket contests with a Dean-ian Fifty State Strategy. More below.
People need to work for and send money to progressive (and even some other reasonable) Democratic Congressional candidates...almost across the board. Obama as president with a non-filibuster proof majority in the Senate and continued control of the House by the lunatics that the Republican Party has become will continue to stymie his--and to an extent our--domestic agenda. Even with a massive Obama victory (and it is kind of looking like that...though we must continue to work and donate to ensure that), one cannot trust the Republicans, science-deniers that they are--to examine their own electoral predicament and to again seek to act as a responsible party in our government. So, Obama w/o absolute Democratic control of both houses will mean further GOP shenanigans. Beyond that a strong, increasingly progressive Democratic Congress might actually force Obama to act responsibly himself, in areas where he has disappointed. In the 2008 campaign, I believe, Obama also indicated that he wanted people to force him to do what is right...so let's try to do that. Already there is talk of him reinvigorating Simpson-Bowles recommendations. That is only one of the critical issues that a progressive Congress can force Obama to do the right (i.e. left) thing about. There are many other issues as well...and I am sure that fellow progressives can list them more completely and discuss them more elegantly than I ...the creeping police state, environment, challenging corporate education, demanding sane marijuana law enforcement, and on and on. Again, we need shift our focus and turn it on to Congress. That really will matter in a second Obama term...and besides, I want to see Republicans weakened to the point that we can begin to think about..."drowning them in the bathtub."