I have no idea what's going to happen with the election next week except that no matter how many contests Republicans win, they'll claim it's proof that America hates Obama and the Democrats and that both will be gone in one more election. They'll probably also claim that any election they lost by less than 5% was stolen via vote theft. In the meantime, Democrats will say, "It could have been worse" — and of course, it could have been worse. I mean, 9/11 could have been worse. My Uncle Nathan used to say that about every bad thing that ever happened. If you'd lost both arms and one leg in a car accident, Uncle Nathan would have told you to look on the bright side and focus on the limb you had left. I loved him but he was pretty useless in those moments when sympathy might have been appropriate.
I also expect Democrats to learn no cohesive lesson from anything that happens next Tuesday. The ones already inclined to move to the right will say, no matter how the vote goes, "This shows we need to move to the right." The ones who yearn to move to the left will head in that direction. And the Tea Party crowd will claim credit for every defeated Democrat and proclaim a new era and a giant step forward in taking back their country from that Muslim Commie in the White House. It'll be some time before any of them realize any candidates they help elect will either (a) link up with Republicans to push tax cuts for the wealthy and more corporate giveaways or will (b) accomplish absolutely nothing.
You get the feeling I'm not really rooting for anyone next week? Well, not really. I do like Jerry Brown, who looks to be our once and future governor in California. I always thought Brown was pretty annoying and arrogant in front of a camera but pretty good at managing a hard-to-manage state…and these days, I'll settle for that trade-off. I also thought he got a bum rap when people started calling him "Governor Moonbeam" for proposing some ideas that now, in hindsight, don't seem that bizarre…like the state launching its own communications satellite and leasing access to private industry. People acted like he was proposing we colonize Saturn. (The actual name "Governor Moonbeam" came from Chicago columnist Mike Royko, who was using it in a riff about how anyone in California had to be a bit of a mental space cadet. He wasn't criticizing Brown specifically and he eventually apologized for the nickname and asked people to stop using it.)
I guess the main thing I hope is that the election results teach the lesson that a candidate has to go out and give press interviews and answer tough questions instead of hiding from the media. Which ain't gonna happen. In fact, we'll probably see just the opposite — folks saying that the election shows that the way to win an election is to control the narrative around you and to only surround yourself with supporters and softball questions. That makes it a lot easier to lie. Ah, well. It's only the future of the country at stake…