The first Congressional election of 2014 is in the books and alas, we have lost. Republican David Jolly has defeated Democratic candidate Alex Sink in Florida's Thirteenth District, and the handwringing has begun (well, at least by me). To be honest, I think the win by republicans doesn't help them as much as a loss would have hurt them; for the Democrats, I think the effect of a win would have been equal to the effect this loss is going to have.
Republicans basically ran on opposing Obamacare (which seems to be their strategy for this year's elections). It will be interesting to see what the exit polls show--I have a hunch that opposing Obamacare could lull republicans into a false sense of security for this November's elections. I also have a hunch that exit polls will show Democrats didn't turn out for this special election and that could be even worse for Democrats in 2014. Make no mistake--this was a winnable election for Democrats and does not bode well.
I'm not really sure if Democrats have the answer to increasing turnout for this year's elections. Bitch slapping the Koch brothers, pushing the minimum wage, and forcing republicans hands on unemployment insurance will help a little, but it probably isn't enough. A full frontal assault on immigration reform would also have a positive effect; again, if it will be enough, I don't know. We got crushed in 2010 not because more republicans turned out; we got crushed because we didn't even come close to our 2008 turnout.
And the Senate seriously hangs in the balance.
As for myself, I'm going to keep repeating "Hillary in 2016, Hillary in 2016..." to myself and hope that it ameliorates the panic attacks because God knows that breathing into a paper bag ain't cutting it.
Peace,
emaycee
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