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US Midterm Results
Nov. 9th, 2022 11:57 amElection results could have been a lot worse.
I'm so relieved that my parents, family, and friends in Wisconsin will have a Democratic governor. I'm grateful that three states amended their constitutions to protect abortion, especiallly Michigan where success was less certain and where I have other people I care about.
I'm relieved that that quack Dr. Oz lost. I'm hopeful that Christian nationalist Lauren Boebert won't be pushing fascist poison at a federal level anymore. I'm pleased that Sarah Palin failed in Alaska. I love that so many of the candidates that Donald Trump was personally endorsing lost. I'm glad Herschel Walker did not win outright at least, though sad that he did not lose outright either. I have sympathy for the many people who come out of NFL careers with significant brain damage that makes them a danger to themselves and their families, but we should not be putting those people in positions of political power.
It's disappointing, though not surprising, to me how many people can ignore or support the rising fascist tide on the US right and vote for Republicans. The election of Trump as President convinced me that a lot of people honestly don't care how awful their candidate is as along as he/she hates the same people they hate. It does surprise, and disappoint, me that turnout among left-leaning voters was not better in response to the Supreme Court string of decisions and statements in favor of stripping rights and protections, especially Roe vs Wade and Thomas' suggestion of repealing same-sex marriage and legal contraception.
I'm sad that Ron DeSantis can continue to use the Florida government as a tool to kill trans people and stoke hate. I'm sad that Democrats are likely to lose control of the House. Given House voting records, it's going to be basically impossible to get anything through there.
And, apart from, any specific event or race, I'm just sad that half the voting population in my home country supports a party that's increasingly fascist, autocratic, misogynist, proudly racist, and wants trans kids and their caregivers dead or in jail.
This is, to my sadness, the America I know. I keep hoping it will get better as people born later vote and come into power, but I'm not holding my breath. I can only do my best, and be glad, a little selfishly, that I'm not facing the consequences of some of these things in a direct way myself. Canada seems to follow the US in a lot of ways, according to my Canadian partner, but there's at least some insulation and protection. Canada actually has a viable left-wing party, for instance, as opposed to the centrist US Democrats.
I'm thinking of all of you I know there, and hoping you're going to be ok.
I'm so relieved that my parents, family, and friends in Wisconsin will have a Democratic governor. I'm grateful that three states amended their constitutions to protect abortion, especiallly Michigan where success was less certain and where I have other people I care about.
I'm relieved that that quack Dr. Oz lost. I'm hopeful that Christian nationalist Lauren Boebert won't be pushing fascist poison at a federal level anymore. I'm pleased that Sarah Palin failed in Alaska. I love that so many of the candidates that Donald Trump was personally endorsing lost. I'm glad Herschel Walker did not win outright at least, though sad that he did not lose outright either. I have sympathy for the many people who come out of NFL careers with significant brain damage that makes them a danger to themselves and their families, but we should not be putting those people in positions of political power.
It's disappointing, though not surprising, to me how many people can ignore or support the rising fascist tide on the US right and vote for Republicans. The election of Trump as President convinced me that a lot of people honestly don't care how awful their candidate is as along as he/she hates the same people they hate. It does surprise, and disappoint, me that turnout among left-leaning voters was not better in response to the Supreme Court string of decisions and statements in favor of stripping rights and protections, especially Roe vs Wade and Thomas' suggestion of repealing same-sex marriage and legal contraception.
I'm sad that Ron DeSantis can continue to use the Florida government as a tool to kill trans people and stoke hate. I'm sad that Democrats are likely to lose control of the House. Given House voting records, it's going to be basically impossible to get anything through there.
And, apart from, any specific event or race, I'm just sad that half the voting population in my home country supports a party that's increasingly fascist, autocratic, misogynist, proudly racist, and wants trans kids and their caregivers dead or in jail.
This is, to my sadness, the America I know. I keep hoping it will get better as people born later vote and come into power, but I'm not holding my breath. I can only do my best, and be glad, a little selfishly, that I'm not facing the consequences of some of these things in a direct way myself. Canada seems to follow the US in a lot of ways, according to my Canadian partner, but there's at least some insulation and protection. Canada actually has a viable left-wing party, for instance, as opposed to the centrist US Democrats.
I'm thinking of all of you I know there, and hoping you're going to be ok.
