Less than a week from now, we have an opportunity to vote the Republicans out. It’s a chance many of us have been yearning for, and judging from early statistics one we may utilize to the hilt. Before we move forward, it is worth remembering how we got here.
Democrats helped set up their temporary downfall. Over the previous decade, the party harmed its own brand by bungling mental health reform and by resting on their laurels in economic policy. A parade of scandals substantially worsened their image problem . Then, the Bush Depression forced Democrats to implement painful, unpopular budget cuts. They skated into this decade on thin ice.
Enter the 2010 midterms. Inflamed by hatred of Obamacare, Tea Partiers flooded polling places across America. As usual, Democrats turned at lower rates than in a presidential year. Combined with a suffering economy, this mismatch left the GOP in control even of dark-blue states like Pennsylvania and Michigan. Art Pope’s money was just the icing on the cake.
How bitter a pastry it proved to be. Aided by the Koch Brothers’ Project Redmap, Bob Rucho drew one of the most gerrymandered electoral maps in the nation. Despite narrow popular-vote victories, in 2012 Republicans gained huge majorities in both chambers. Through essentially undemocratic means,they had secured apparently invincible majorities.
This is the story of how Republicans rose to power. It tells us nothing about public sentiment in North Carolina, which did not transform overnight in November 2012. Rather, it is a lesson in the fragility of democracy, and the need for its vigilant protection.
Alexander Jones is an original contributor to PoliticsNC.
That “vigilant protection of democracy” you allude to has to include redistricting reform. Democrats had ample opportunity to fix redistricting when they controlled the legislature. Their rejection of all efforts to fix redistricting is what brought us veto-proof GOP majorities in both legislative chambers. Hopefully being shut out of power for a full decade will motivate the Democrats to make reform their top priority for post-2020 redistricting.
Voted in every election since becoming a citizen in 1976. Don’t vote? Don’t you dare complain!!
We voted early and we voted blue…We’re mad as hell and we ain’t going to take it anymore!
Just don’t understand why nobody’s talking about term limits! How long are we going to put up with Casino Congress?
@jwwilliamson: That’s pretty intense!
“Voting with a vengeance” has become our slogan in Watauga County.