Remembering 1994
After waking up this morning I was remembering the election season of 1994. Being a total political nerd in high school, I was maybe the happiest kid my age the day after the election in 1994.
I can only imagine that many Democrats feel the same way today. And they deserve to.
Sure, this was not as bad as it could have been for an unpopular president in his second mid-term elections, but it was not pretty. While I expected the House to go Democratic, it now looks like that unless we pull off come-from-behind absentee ballot victories in Virginia and (perhaps) Montana, the Senate will go Democratic as well.
Nevertheless, my deepest disappointment is that Bob Ehrlich and Michael Steele lost here in Maryland. Ehrlich has actually been a good governor and Michael Steele genuinely seems like an independent guy who wants to do what’s best for Maryland, but anti-GOP sentiment was just too much to overcome. Now we now get a governor, Martin O’Malley, who has been mayor of the second most crime ridden big city in the nation (and Baltimore is closing in on Detroit!) and a senator, Ben Cardin, who…well…proved to know nothing about Maryland in the debates.
As my Argentine friends would tell me, “We have the government we deserve.” Let’s hope that the incoming officials don’t turn out to be as bad as some of us fear. 
2 Responses to “Remembering 1994”
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You know, I think it will not be as bad as it looks. Many of the Democrats that have taken office are moderate, even conservative leaning. That should definitely help offset the supposed consolidating power that Pelosi will exert in the party.
In NM we have had a real nail-biter. Heather Wilson faced a formidable challenge from a true liberal, Patritia Madrid. I was up until 2 A.M. following results, and while Wilson trailed the entire day, the votes from the conservative precincts trailed in and brought her first to within 320 votes, and then to an eventual 1200 (give or take) vote lead. Now, as abstentee ballots are being counted, and a certain recount is in the midst, it looks like NM has averted disaster. Madrid was not moderate–she was a true wacko. Not only that, but she was not qualified for the job.
abuzachary,
That’s a great point. How this will play out I’m not sure since the Democrats have a huge majority in the House. But you’re right, when people like Madrid (and Lamont) get beat by better candidates it’s not all bad.