Electyle Dysfunction

One reasons that President Obama did so well in 2008 was he and the Democratic Party did a marvelous job of inspiring the young, the poor, and others who rarely voted to cast a vote for the first time. In 2010, the American public basically said we are completely sick of politics and we are just going to stay home. Unfortunately, that fell perfectly into the Republican trap. It was clear in 2008 that the Republicans came up with a brilliant political strategy. They were going to be the party of "No!". They refused to play nice, refused to do anything to move the country forward. They unanimously said we will not let President Obama accomplish anything. Then, two years later when it was election time, they would produce ad after ad proclaiming that nothing happened and it was the Democrats' fault.

The strategy worked.

What happened is that Republicans still came out to vote in similar percentages as most elections. However, Democrats stayed home. The poor stayed home. The youth, in particular stayed home. I am watching CNN and they said statistically only 11% of Americans between 18-30 voted yesterday. 11 fucking percent. I would think a conservative estimate of 2008 would be that triple the amount of young people voted. But, when I think about it, that percentage is probably right. My roommates voted for Obama two years ago. Yesterday they stayed home. High School friends, college friends, co-workers, et cetera who went out and almost all voted for Obama in 2008 decided to stay at home. The Millennial generation basically said we don't give a shit. This was not an issue of the moderates or the centrists all going towards the Republicans. This was an issue of the Democrats not caring about the future of the country. That is shameful. It is shameful for so many of my friends who I volunteered with during the Bush Administration, who raised money with me to put Obama in the White House, just two years later, said we are so apathetic, that we don't care what happens to the country. Excuse me for still caring what happens to the United States. If you vote for Republicans because you feel they have the best plan to fix the country, I can run with that. Discussion and disagreement is what makes this country special. But to have 89% of the youth sit at home is just downright shameful.

1. By the way, it was not just the house and the senate that Republicans did well. They picked up a net 11 governor seats. Republicans also did really well in state races (state senators, state representatives, attorney generals, treasurers, et cetera.) Even in a liberal state like Minnesota, the Republicans will now control both chambers of the Minnesota congress, and the governor race is going to re-count.

2. Kim Kardashian is recording a pop album. Hopefully it is as awesome as Paris Hilton's "When Stars go Blind" album. (note sarcasm)

3. George W. Bush has a new book coming out and he is just starting his press tour. He was on the Today show today and Matt Lauer interviewed him and asked him what his worst moment was. He said it was when Kanye West said he does not like black people. Really, W. Really. Not the war? Not how you handled Katrina? I could go on.