Saratoga

Ok, so Obama got reelected. I’m truly happier than if Romney had gotten in, but I’m not leaping out of my chair. In fact, I barely give a damn.

Back to my coffee cup metaphor: Let’s say you have a machine that makes disposable cardboard coffee cups. You hit the button and out comes a cup. You pour in hot coffee and it leaks out a hole in the bottom, burning you. You curse the cup, pitch it aside, and hit the button again. Same result – pour, leak, burn, curse, discard. And again. And again. Sooner than later you should get the idea that the machine itself needs fixing. Simply cycling through defective products is going to get you burned.

Always remember that the same political machine produced both Romney and Obama. Our president may have more progressive views on social issues, and he may talk a good line on economic issues, but there are boundaries he won’t cross. The banks will have their way and the security-industrial-prison-surveillance juggernaut will roll on.

I’m interested in some of the non-presidential battles lost and won.

There is a bump in gender issues. Maine, Maryland, and Washington held referenda on legalizing same-sex marriage, and all three won. Minnesota held a referendum on an amendment to the state constitution that would have prohibited same-sex marriage. It lost. Meanwhile, in Wisconsin (home of Paul Ryan), Tammy Baldwin became the first openly gay member of the U.S. Senate, defeating Republican Tommy Thompson. Thompson’s campaign tried a couple of anti-gay shots but had to walk them back. As a bonus, her vacated House seat was won by openly gay assemblyman Mark Pocan. I am thinking that the descriptor “openly gay” is slowly on its way out in reporting on political campaigns. There are many places in red state America where sexual orientation is still a political issue, but fewer.

Similarly, we have seen a couple of right-wing Republicans gaffe themselves to defeat over women’s issues. Senate candidate Todd Akin’s comment on “legitimate rape” and his sad ignorance of middle school level reproductive biology contributed to his defeat. So too, Senate candidate Richard Mourdock sank his candidacy with his statement that pregnancy resulting from rape was “God’s will.” My theory is that many voters, even somewhat conservative voters, are having “holy shit” moments when they realize just what dinosaurs these guys are.

In other races, Allen West, single term Tea Party favorite and commie-under-the-bed hunter is out. Also in Florida, former single term progressive and fighter Alan Grayson is back in. Ultra-right-wing-nut Michelle Bachmann held on, but by a hair-thin margin, despite outspending her challenger 12:1.

Oh, and Elizabeth Warren. The Harvard professor and bankster-bashing consumer advocate edged out Republican Scott Brown. Sweetness. I am looking forward to her causing some serious trouble for the Masters of the Universe.

Closer to home, New Hampshire booted some single term Tea Party types and swung a bit to the left. Vermont had a Democratic near sweep in statewide races, the exception being Lieutenant Governor and low-key moderate nice guy Phil Scott. Our governor hung his hat on single payer health care and won in a landslide. The Republicans in Vermont headed hard right and generally got their buttocks handed to them in fine silver tureens. Republican financier Lenore Broughton spent around a million dollars on half a dozen Vermont races without success.

Lenore’s role model, billionaire casino owner Sheldon Adelson, dumped $53 million into conservative national super PACs with a similar lack of success. Mitt Romney, George Allen, Allen West, and Schmuley Boteach lost, despite Adelson’s millions. Karl Rove’s organizations spent $390 million of millionaire money on far-right candidates and got near zero return on investment.

Nationwide, people got a close look at ultra-conservatism and most didn’t like it. They also got a look at the billion dollar fallout from the Citizens United ruling and they didn’t like that either.

On the Drug War front, Washington and Colorado legalized the possession and recreational use of marijuana. Massachusetts, as an addendum, became the 18^th state to legalize medical marijuana. This is huge.

Remember when Vermont instituted civil unions for same sex couples? Remember what a big deal it was at the time? How progressive and brave Vermont was for doing something that in retrospect was a half measure and a no brainer at that? My prediction: marijuana legalization will evolve the same way. The sky hasn’t fallen in states with legalized medical marijuana, and it won’t fall in states with legalized recreational marijuana. Those states will see their tax revenues rise slightly and their law enforcement and prison costs drop.

None of these are comprehensive victories. A rational health care system will take time and multiple defeats. The federal government will push back on legalization. Bigots will push back against equality. We’ll need a constitutional amendment to really get the millionaires and corporations out of or electoral system.

And yet, a couple of years ago, who woulda thunk? I’m looking back to Occupy Wall Street, when it was first pointing a finger at the banker-criminals and bringing the 99% vs.1% divide into general consciousness. We’re talking about income and class now. We’re talking about political money in a critical way.

Those of you who have studied early American history have probably twigged my title by now. Perhaps I should have been more cautious and titled it Valcour Island.

Back in 1776, the British had a plan to win the war with their rebellious colonies. They would send an army down the Champlain Valley from Canada, down the Hudson River, and cut off New England from the rest of the colonies. This required control of Lake Champlain. Benedict Arnold (yes, him) organized the building of a fleet to match the British one being built in Quebec. An outgunned and outnumbered American fleet took on the world’s greatest navy at Valcour Island – and got its ass kicked. Utterly. The British took the lake.

Even so, this victory cost the British time. The colonists had another year to prepare. When the British came down in 1777 they were picked apart, harassed, and ultimately defeated at Saratoga. The war went on for years, with many setbacks for the Americans, but the seeds of the outcome were planted at Valcour and Saratoga.

I’m hoping we are past the getting-our-ass-kicked-by-the-British-navy stage and into the picking apart the British army stage, but I’m not counting on it. Whatever the setbacks to come, I think that this election was the battle where the balance started to shift.