Here Comes the Sun: Field Notes from Election 2012

The meme_ster apologizes for going MIA over the past 48 hours since Barack Obama won the 2012 presidential election. I succumbed to an overwhelming desire to avoid  (and, to be honest, complete inability to assimilate) verbal information in any form but especially tweets, stats, and opinions. I’ve read and heard nearly nothing during this brief period and while I look forward to reading the stack of newspapers in the living room and catching up with Tivoed broadcasts, before I do I’d like to send out a few notes from the field of Election 2012.

• Hate is not a strategy. Romney enjoyed skewering the Obama ’08 slogan of “hope and change” by saying “hope is not a strategy.” True enough, but the Republican Party might observe that hate is not a strategy either, at least not one that wins elections. They’ve tried it twice and are 0-for-2.
• Neither is disappointment. Already I’ve glimpsed the tribe of disaffected progressives resume their griping about how they’re quite sure President Obama will continue to fail to buy them a pony—even though they voted for him again! Suggestion: Use this Democratic administration to actually work toward your goal of a world without drones, or pipelines, or climate change or banksters or plutocracy or income inequality. I know you think you do, and some of you really do, but take a moment to quantify how much time you spend dwelling on your personal disappointment compared to hard-core persistent organizing to make change. Don’t agonize. Organize.
• Bill Clinton is not a hero. He owes us.
• James Carter IV is a hero. Period.
• Billionaires are low-information voters. Who knew? The handful of one per-centers who threw their money down a rat hole believed what the Republican operatives told them, and apparently didn’t do a background check or educate themselves. Now they feel had. Suggestion: Bookmark 538. (That’ll be $34M, please.)
• Note to Karl Rove: You’re laughing all the way to the bank, I know, but don’t count on unlimited cash in the next cycle. You jumped the shark in full view.
• If it helps, think of math as a philosophy, not a science. Or an art form. Whatever the case, remember that 2 + 2 = victory, and accept the excruciating calculation that there will never again be enough angry white men for a party built on white supremacy and race hate to prevail in the US. Ease into it by practicing with this math problem: If there are more poor people than rich people, and the poor people vote, who wins the election? By responding to this calculus with wide-spread voter suppression efforts, the Republicans have demonstrated such contempt for the electorate and for the democratic system, their rehabilitation will be challenging. But America loves a comeback story, so go forth and suck up to the “minorities” that control the future. Start here: “I once was lost but now I’m found,” etc. etc., you know, the amazing grace angle.
• There is no Republican Party. I’ve heard the term “conservative movement” picking up steam already, as if there is a Republican Party with more than conservatives in it. Not true. There is only the Conservative Party. Claim it, flaunt it, and do what you can with it, but don’t perpetrate the fraud of a party with a range of views. The progressive, liberal, and moderate Republicans have all been purged from the party. They’re all Democrats now, and believe me, we know we’re stuck with them. The Conservative Party ranges from Joe Scarborough on the left to Todd Akin on the right. (You know when Joe Scarborough is considered Republican-in-name-only [RINO], there is no “left” left in the party.) If someone thinks differently, start the reel of the Republican primary debates. Evolution, anyone?
• Your conservative cred depends on how much you hate Obama. Don’t look at me, that’s what Joe Scarborough said “the morning after.” (See above: Hate is not a strategy.)
• Note to Tom Udall: Filibuster reform was a brilliant idea.
• Note to Harry Reid: Do what Tom Udall says.
• Community organizing rocks the vote. Resistance to turnout is futile.

Time for my nap now.