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So, you're a Democrat who is running against an incumbent Republican in this year's elections--and you don't think you're all that bad a person. You love America just fine. You have conservative friends and colleagues whom you like and respect. Public service isn't a joke to you--sure, you're probably an ambitious sort, but you're principled about it. You want to do a good job and serve your district. You have a plan, and you've spent some time putting things in motion. This was the year for your shot.
But you're screwed, thanks to Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi, and Harry Reid.
You see, it's a bad year for Democrats who are trying to topple incumbent Republicans. To give an idea of the situation: the DCCC has just announced their final ad buys: $21.6 million, 66 districts... and three of these are for Republican districts. Two of those are open seats (the third is HI-01); and there are two more districts where the Democrats are confidently expecting flips. And that's it. Five (it's really four, because the DCCC is not assured a win in HI-01). Every other Democrat running against a Republican in Congress has been written off. In the Senate, it’s even worse: no Democrat running against a Republican incumbent or for a Republican open seat is expected to win. It's better for the governors, but not 'great' or even 'good.' And the electoral situation at the state level for Democrats can best be described as ‘nebulous DOOM.’
And it's all because of, again, Obama, Pelosi, & Reid. They wanted--and got--a pork-barrel payoff of orgiastic proportions; they likewise got a health care monstrosity that nobody read, or understands, or really likes. Between that, coming within a hair's-breadth of passing the energy-killing cap-and-trade bill, and generally running up the deficit and unemployment into actual orbit, those three did what most would have thought impossible: they made people nostalgic for 2005.
And in the process, they ran roughshod over the really quite reasonably ambitious plans of a lot of Democratic politicians, especially including yourself. You've been sacrificed for their convenience. And the best part? While Reid may be toast, most of the rest of the Democratic leadership are probably still safe in their specific districts.
So:
• When your kid looks at you and says "But Mommy/Daddy, I thought that you said we were going to go to Washington next year" and you have to explain gently that “no, Honey, the voters decided otherwise,” remember: Obama, Pelosi, & Reid.
• When your Aunt Sally or Uncle Phil comes up to you at a quiet moment during the Thanksgiving celebration and awkwardly remarks, "You know, we're real proud of you, and that you ran for Congress. But what they were saying about us, and the rest of the Tea Party . . . that wasn't true. That just wasn't true"--and you have to squirm for a couple of minutes, remember: Obama, Pelosi, & Reid.
• When you sit with your significant other around the table to try to figure out how to get out from under the credit card bills and debts that you ran up running for office, after finding out that the person who was helping you at the local Democratic party office isn't at that position any more, and that the replacement doesn't really want to talk to you, remember: Obama, Pelosi, & Reid.
Of course, those three people want you to blame people like . . . well, me, actually. And I suppose doing that would be easier than facing the truth.
