The Coming Election

I am supposed to feel really bad about the upcoming election on Tuesday.  The Democrats will lose the House...By a lot.  The Senate will become even more dysfunctional.  Krugman, who is infuriatingly right about everything, says that we will be in for two years of paralysis.  Two years that we desperately need to have a functioning government.

I agree that we need a functioning government.  We need a government to keep propping up insolvent state governments and addressing the overwhelming gap between the rich and poor.  We need a government to make the simple, easy fixes to Social Security.  We need a government that puts the interests of the people above the interests of the few.

And I agree that Speaker Boehner will not address any of these issues in a rational way.

Which means I'm living in denial.

Here's why:  I think the 2006 and 2008 elections were about more than a "political wave".  I think they were a fundamental realignment.

When I teach comparative government, we talk a lot about political culture.  It's not always determinative but it's very influential.

The "solid South" is a good example of this from history.

And I don't know if polls have captured the movement away from Republicans that has taken place in many sections of the country among many groups of people.

So, yeah, I'm probably living in denial and the GOP will pick up 60 seats in the House and 7 seats in the Senate.

But if for some reason I'm right, I want this thing time stamped, so I can be a genius for a day.