A Good Day for Democrats?

First, I want to thank everyone for the response to the fund raiser. I only rattle the tin cup once a year, but it makes a huge difference.





I realize a lot of people are in precarious shape now, so please don’t apologize or feel bad if you can’t give a donation or can afford only a couple of bucks. Believe me, I understand.

I’m not sure if this is 100 percent of the vote, but the Ohio Secretary of State currently gives the Issue 2 count as 38.67% yes, 61.33% no, which I’d say is pretty decisive. And I see Mississippi nixed the “personhood” amendment, by a respectable margin. I’d say if it can’t pass in Mississippi, it can’t pass anywhere. Try again, fetusonistas.

Arizona’s right-wing Senate president, who calls himself the “Tea Party President,” was recalled. I’m not sure if anyone saw that coming.

Steve Kornacki writes that the GOP has a “brand problem.”

The most recent national survey from the Quinnipiac Polling Institute suggests a serious image problem for the Republican Party, with just 28 percent of voters saying they have a favorable view of the GOP and 57 percent saying they have an unfavorable one. Tuesday night offered a demonstration of why this is, with voters in several states siding against some of the most prominent faces and ideas of the Tea Party-era Republican Party.

Today’s word, boys and girls, is “overreach.”

The year started with a new Republican governor taking office and a new Republican majority in the Legislature, both results of the GOP’s 2010 midterm landslide. But once in power, the Republicans overreached, with SB 5 inciting a fierce and sustained backlash and angering many of the swing voters who were crucial to the GOP’s ’10 success. Kasich’s poll numbers crashed early in the year and have yet to recover much. A week before the election, his approval rating stood at 36 percent.

Dems have their own branding problem, of course. I’m not sure that yesterday was as much a good day for Democrats as it was a bad day for Republicans. However, I will say that the Dems aren’t quite as much the “me, too” party as it was a few years ago. At least a portion of it is less afraid to draw a strong distinction between themselves and the Right, and I hope yesterday’s elections will bolster their couragte.