It was Will Rogers who said that. He said it to Al Smith in 1929. Think yesterday was bad, Al Smith lost his home state of New York, a state he was governor. Who'd he lose to? Herbert Hoover and it was a landslide. 444 electoral votes and 58+% of the eligible voters. And there were nearly super majorities in Congress. Democrats at that point were nearly rubber stamping things because they didn't have the numbers to actually be an opposing party in Washington.
This is why Will Rogers gives me hope.
I was a tour guide for the US Capitol Building. This was when I first fell in love with Will Rogers. Reading his quotes today, I find solace.
I bet you if I had met him and had a chat with him, I would have found him a very interesting and human fellow, for I never yet met a man that I dident like. When you meet people, no matter what opinion you might have formed about them beforehand, why, after you meet them and see their angle and their personality, why, you can see a lot of good in all of them.
Agreed.
I don't think I've ever met someone I didn't like in person. There are people I've grown to dislike, but when I meet most people not only do I give them a chance, I find myself looking for reasons to like them.
And yesterday, I really needed that perspective.
After Tuesday I was sad. I moved to Maryland in 2012, so, it was a tough one for me. There was no one at my polling station in the heart of Blue Maryland. Clearly, I knew there was a problem. And I don't think for my area it was the candidate. There was no outreach, not to me. I'm the base. No outreach. No GOTV. WTF? No, really, WTF?
I belong to no organized party, I'm a Democrat.
Oh, yes, the unorganized party. I had no idea the Maryland State Democratic party was this disorganized.
yet...
I know this is gonna sound insane, but I'm not wringing my hands; I'm not terrified about the future. I'm kind of excited, charged up, thinking about quitting my job and finding the kind of Progressive campaign I can sink my teeth into. I remember running for the DC state Democratic party (when I lived there) and the incredible work we did to get elected. DFA helped a lot to push that concept, to build that bench. I'm an optimist, clearly. Oh, now what did Will Rogers say about that...
You've got to be optimist to be a Democrat, and you've got to be a humorist to stay one.
I'm totally an optimist. If I wanted to be ruled by fear, anger and steadfast thirst for the 'good ole days', I'd be a Republican.
We are always yapping about the 'Good Old Days' and how we look back and enjoy it, but I tell you there is a lot of hooey to it. There is a whole lot of all our past lives that wasn't so hot.
I'm a Democrat. True Blue, Democrat. An eternal optimist who believes in the inherent goodness of my fellow citizens. I do. It's unorganized, chaotic and still, I think it's part of what makes me a Democrat. Well, that and my Finnish Trade Unionist upbringing.
I think about Will Rogers and about not only the humor he found in the party and in Congress, but I think about the times he lived through when he literally watched Republican administrations with near super majorities in Congress crush the US economy. When Calvin Coolidge was President, there were 302 Republicans to 131 Democrats in the House. Damn. Seriously, damn.
Elections are a good deal like marriages. There's no accounting for anyone's taste. Every time we see a bridegroom we wonder why she ever picked him, and it's the same with public officials.
So, for the results of Tuesday and for my party, let's face it, we aren't learning any lessons here. We aren't. We're the big tent party that finds it hard to talk to the base even when we want our candidates to do it and beg them to do it. But they don't have super majorities even if some Dem's switch ranks. There's no veto proof majority. There is still a conservative supreme court, conservative Congress ruled by obstructionist Republicans who never saw a Democratic idea they would ever agree to and we still have a moderate President from the Democratic Party.
So, I'm okay.
I'm ready for 2016.
Let's go!