It's been a good week for progressives. But every election season has its defeats, and it's important to recognize them, shed our tears, and figure out the reasons behind these losses.
The most apparent defeat, the one that cuts the deepest, was the victory of gay-marriage bans in California, Arizona, and Florida, and a particularly offensive ballot initiative in Alabama that prevents an unmarried couple, gay or straight, from adopting children -- lord knows the best thing to do for orphaned children is to reduce even further the number of potential adoptive parents who could raise them in loving homes.
As Ta-Nehisi Coates of The Atlantic has pointed out, the arguments behind these initiatives are basically "Yuck." There is no credible public-policy reason for this kind of discrimination, and no way to go forward except through the increasing presence and acceptance of gays and lesbians in American society. The good news is in the demographics: Voters aged 18 to 29 were more likely than any other age group to vote against these measures, with the exception of Florida, where the youth vote split more or less evenly. As the current voting population continues to age, we will likely see a growing electoral coalition in favor of equal rights for LGBT citizens.
But that is cold comfort to those who were robbed of their rights on Nov. 4. In California, at least, there are reports that organized opposition to Proposition 8 was late-coming and initially underfunded due to complacency about the referendum's chances of success. It's not hard to imagine a repeal initiative being floated in the next few years with a strong organizing and advertising component as progressives in the state learn their lesson. Several groups have already filed court challenges against the referendum aimed at overturning it in the California Supreme Court. There may be further court challenges to anti-gay marriage laws in coming years, but don't expect many attempts to bring them to the Supreme Court until after the Obama administration has the chance to make a few judicial appointments.
The next crushing loss is found in a question that has been floating around liberal circles: What's the matter with Alaska? The state has returned to Congress two of the most corrupt members in the body -- Rep. Don Young, one of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington's 20 most corrupt representatives who is currently under federal investigation, and Sen. Ted Stevens, recently convicted on seven felony counts for … corruption. Even worse, their Democratic challengers were leading in the polls by wide margins before Election Day, leaving operatives and observers more confused than ever about the electorate in the state.
"Look, you have a situation with Don Young where we believed that his conduct and his record would lead people to support the change in direction," Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chair Chris Van Hollen told the Anchorage Daily News. "I think a lot of people also expected to see that with respect to Sen. Ted Stevens after he was found guilty. Clearly for some reason -- and I'm not second-guessing -- but for whatever reason, Sen. Stevens' conduct, as judged by a jury of his peers -- as well as the activities of Don Young -- were not enough."
In-state observers suggest that there was a Palin effect, as voters supporting their governor's vice-presidential aspirations gave the nod to her down-ticket fellow Republicans. Turnout was lower than expected except in Palin's home region of the Mat-Su valley. In the end, it seems that the record, shared by the two Republicans, of bringing enormous amounts of pork-barrel spending to Alaska, beat out any concerns over ethics. Stevens may yet be expelled from the Senate, and Young could soon be indicted, giving rise to hopes for new representation from the northern state.
Moving from ethics to extremism, the, re-election of Republican Michelle Bachmann to the House was a disappointment. The representative from Minnesota's 6th Congressional District made remarks on national television calling for an examination of whether liberals in Congress, including Barack Obama, are anti-American. Though she tried to walk back her comments, her poll numbers dropped, and her challenger, Elwyn Tinklenberg, raised nearly $2 million off Bachmann's slurs. But in the end, the congresswoman eked out a 2-point win. It's a shame that her offensive remarks didn't boot her out of office, but let's hope that Bachmann -- who won her previous election by eight points -- has been scared straight.
Another loss can be found at the state level. Redistricting begins in 2010, and preventing gerrymandering and ensuring that everyone has an effective congressional voice depends on the outcomes of this election's state legislative races. Though Democrats took the majority in five state legislatures -- New York, Wisconsin, Ohio, Delaware, and Nevada -- they lost in three, Tennessee, Montana and Oklahoma. They also lost by a slim margin in Texas, where the negative effects of bad redistricting were seen earlier in the decade.
We're still waiting on results from some races. Al Franken's challenge to Sen. Norm Coleman of Minnesota is in limbo as we await a recount, and Democratic challenger Tom Periello is a few hundred votes ahead of corrupt Congressman Virgil Goode of Virginia. Losses in either race would be unfortunate. But progressives are still ahead electorally. 2008 is not 2004 or 2000. But it's always best to temper a lot of success with a little anxiety (as opposed to the usual liberal remedy of tempering a lot of anxiety with a little success). Progressives need to get used to winning but only so we can win when it counts.
