The Republicans may have gained control of the Senate, but both they and the Democrats lost the election. So what party won the election? The third party, that has neither name nor candidates. An overwhelming majority of eligible voters - nearly 65% - voted for no one, simply by not showing up to vote.
That means that the representatives chosen for office have a mandate to serve only 15-20% of eligible voters depending on which party they represent. Neither party then has much claim on the hearts and minds of American voters. This is an important fact Democrats need to consider as they move forward into 2015. More than ever they will need to represent that small percentage of voters that elected them keeping in mind that huge majority of non voters.
All those millions spent and all we get back is input from a little over one third of possible voters? It's easy to blame those voters for not showing up to vote, but I believe that the effect of political advertising creates mistrust in all candidates, confusion about who to believe and a lack of faith that whoever they elect will make a difference. The system as it stands, stinks, and the result is that most voters just don't know who to believe and in the end, give up. We NEED to get money out of politics. How about a ban on political advertising on television and radio? What a world this could be...
My point in all of this is to urge caution the next time you hear someone say 'The American people have spoken…" What they mean to say is that "…a small fraction of voters have spoken…"
The fact is we just don't know what most Americans think because they won't vote. In the meantime the one third of voters who did express an opinion deserve to be represented by the representatives they chose.
I'm hearing a lot of talk about wave election. Sorry, but it's hard to take a 20% wave very seriously. I'm also hearing a lot of talk about how the American people want to see legislation passed. Well, guess what? Most Americans didn't tell us what they want.
I do not want my representatives voting against my interests simply to prove they can get legislation passed. If bad legislation is proposed, then I want my representatives to oppose it in the strongest possible terms - gridlock be damned.
Our fight over the next two years will be against a small percentage of Americans backed by the 1% who expect to gain significantly from bad-for-the-peoplr legislation. Dems will need to stay on top of those they elected including Obama, to not bow to political or financial pressure or cave to so called public opinion. The majority public opinion simply remains a mystery.
What we do know is that new majority party represents only a small fraction of voters. It's a dangerous-to-democracy minority, but it is none-the-less a minority. The reason I wanted to share this observation was that it made me realize the election was not a reflection of the majority of Americans. The majority was simply out to lunch. It lifted me out of depression. I thought this might help others out there.