Momentum and Opportunity
There is much discussion on DU today over whether we "won" and the GOP "lost" this week. After all, things are still almost the same as they were before the Teahadis' attempt to sabotage the government and economy was thwarted. And things were not good before.
So, what have we "won"?
I believe that what we've won (or, really, the gift the Republicans have given us) is momentum. That momentum can be harnessed to start righting many of the wrongs that have been wrought by our GOP friends.
An example of how this can work can be seen here in Minnesota, where, finally, the state has recognized the right of same-sex couples to marry. It never, ever could have happened without the help of state Republicans.
Here, as they have across the nation, the Republicans badly overplayed their hand. Not content for same-sex marriage to merely be illegal, the GOP majority in the state legislature got a referendum onto the November ballot to permanently enshrine marriage discrimination in the state constitution.
They thought it would be just the thing they needed to drive their base to the polls, and drive the GOP to an even greater majority in the legislature. The banged their drum, they spewed their venomous rhetoric, and...
...and the hitherto-complacent voters of Minnesota, in disgust, defeated the amendment. They chose decency over deceit, compassion over cruelty...and they chose Democrats over Republicans.
But, with the amendment defeated and Democrats in control of the legislature, what was really won? Same-sex couples still had no more rights then they had before.
Advocates of fairness did have one thing they hadn't before, though, and that was their new-found momentum. They seized that momentum and pressed forward. Timid politicians, emboldened by the election results, began to fall into line - even a few Republicans! By summer's end, friends of mine in same-sex marriages had the same legal rights that I'd so long taken for granted.
And now, nationwide, the voters' disgust with the Republicans is much, much greater than it was in Minnesota last fall. This is the moment to seize the gift of momentum that the Republicans have given us, and press forward. People's lives will be better for it.