Either We Hang Together or We Hang Separately

The Nov 2009 elections have little significance in themselves, but they do suggest that if the Democrats fail to enact significant healthcare and climate change legislation, they will face severe defeat, Blue Dogs first. With bad candidates and a depressed economy, the NJ and VA Democratic base hardly bothered to vote, leaving the field to right-wing ideologues and people hoping for change, any change. The Democrats had nothing to offer, and their control of Congress made it seem all the worse.

In reality, on the same day as the election, the business news made it clear that the Obama measures to deal with the economy are working, but as the President has repeatedly said, it takes time. It now seems likely that the economy will be visibly improving by the November 2010 elections.

But if the Democrats get distracted by passing uproars manufactured or capitalized upon by Republicans and the broadcast media, they could still lose. There is a repeating pattern here, folks: Republican Presidents screw up the economy, then Democrats spend all their effort and credibility fixing it up again, with Republican opposition forcing them to sacrifice their other agenda goals to that end. Happened to Carter and Clinton, now Obama.