It was gratifying to see the river of money plowed into right wing super PACs get flushed down the toilet and watch voter suppression tactics totally backfire. It was great to see race-baiting, gay-bashing, nativism and medieval misogyny rejected by a majority of the electorate. But that was just an initial battle in the new political landscape of 21st century America. The war has just begun. Now is not the time to underestimate the enemies of freedom, justice and American prosperity.
The billionaires who were just handed a humiliating shellacking by the people did not get their billions by being stupid. They understand that failure is part of the road to success in business. We need to prepare for the next wave, because they will be...
Dark money will now regroup and learn the lessons of this election. This was the first time they had a free hand in spending as much as they wanted and the inexperience showed. They will not make that mistake again.
Watch for them to exploit areas where they have had success already and where they can see money being effective:
The open attempts at voter suppression may have backfired but there is a better and more effective way to disenfranchise voters that already has had great success -Gerrymandering. Down ticket money can still buy races and if you can control state legislatures you control redistricting and voting. Watch for a move in Republican controlled states to determine electoral votes by congressional district results. This effectively disenfranchises wide swaths of voters in national elections without having to resort to embarrassing ham fisted suppression tactics.
Mid-term and local elections have not yet attracted the kind of turnout, volunteers and small money donations that Presidential elections have. You can bet the dark money is already working on how to turn that to there advantage in the mid-terms.
They saw the effectiveness of Obama's ground game. Watch for less money wasted on TV ads and millions plowed into data bases, local offices and building a GOTV machine to neutralize the Democrats.
I am encouraged that the President has said he will take his case to the people over the obstructionist congress. The campaign has to continue. The effectiveness of the Presidential campaigns has to move into mid-terms and state elections. The country will not be safe until the threat from the rabid right has been completely rooted out of congress and state legislatures.
They will learn from this election. They have unlimited funds and no scruples about how to use them. They will fire the delusional and incompetent flunkeys that screwed the pooch this time around and get better managers and shills. They will up their game and be back with just as much money and a better plan. As they plan to defeat the Democratic strategy of 2012 we need to surprise them with a much more sophisticated and prepared movement that is 3 steps ahead of them.
I was one who was not happy with Obama's first term. But I like many others realized that we only have the luxury of debating how progressive our progressive agenda should be because of the masterful job the President has done of building a political machine that empowers the American people. We need to put all our energy and support into extending, evolving and building out that machine so that it becomes an unstoppable force. This in the end might be the greatest legacy of the President and could continue the advance of the march toward a more perfect union long after his second term ends.