Stephanie Levy

Post-Election Musings

The narrative of last night’s mid-term election is pretty resounding: Republicans Take Control. Republicans officially have a majority in the House of Representatives, which means the end of the first ever female House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (say what you want about her politics, but her rise was still historic); John Boehner is expected to fill the position. Democrats maintained a narrow majority in the Senate, but their numbers are nowhere near filibuster-proof.

Obviously things could be a lot better for Democrats.

Then again, they could be a lot worse, too.

In the end, many of the highly-publicized Tea Party candidates running for office failed to win their bids (I’m looking at you, Christine O’Donnell, Carl Paladino and Ken Buck). I’d like to give credit to the voters here; they knew that, in short, these candidates simply didn’t cut it.

But Rand Paul and Marco Rubio are now Senators. Think about that for a second. Paul disagrees with the Civil Rights Act and employs people who literally stomp on opponents. Many classify Rubio’s anti-abortion views as extreme. I have a feeling the economy will continue to be the paramount issue in Congress for years to come, and that these freshman Senators will spend most of their time working on economic issues. But it doesn’t bode well for the electorate if it prefers that its elected officials IGNORE a certain issue rather than ADDRESS it, out of fear that such an address would lead to extremist policies completely out of line with the “mainstream America” they purport to represent.

Sadly, my home state has delivered my greatest disappointment so far. I had a sinking feeling going into this election that Missourians were set up for very few races that wouldn’t be slashed down to the lowest common denominator of fear-mongering, name-dropping and sour vitriol. In the end, I think I was right. The Senate race between former Minority Whip Roy Blunt (the winner) and Missouri Secretary of State Robin Carnahan turned into a battle royale between the two most recognizable names in Missouri politics. But the race became pundit fodder when Fox News sued the Carnahan campaign for using footage from one of its broadcasts in an attack ad against Blunt, drawing unnecessary attention away from their campaigns as a whole. In the end, Missourians were quick to forget the differences between the Blunt and Carnahan legacy in favor of siding with the bully shouting the loudest. I am not calling Carnahan or Blunt a literal bully; I only use the metaphor to underscore how many of their campaign messages relied on negative messages.

Missouri voters also ousted the chairman of a House committee responsible for the largest chunk of domestic spending in favor of the home ec teacher. Tea Party sweetheart Vicky Hartzler beat out Democratic incumbent Ike Skelton for his Senate seat. I have never been a huge fan of Skelton; I take issue with many homophobic statements he has made in the past, especially in regards to Don’t Ask Don’t Tell. But he was good for Missouri and overall national governance. On a local level, his high ranking in the House gave him an unprecedented opportunity to put Missouri’s needs on the national legislative agenda. Back home, he was unwaveringly dedicated to his constituents, reflecting his belief that Missourians voted him into office to speak for them through his largely moderate stance. On the national level, his 34 years of experience in the House meant he knew how to get things done. He had the experience to work with an admittedly slow system and move it forward, along with a policy expertise that only 34 years of experience can bring. He was also an unwavering supporter of the servicemen and women in our country’s military. Ike, I didn’t always agree with you, but I’m kind of going to miss you.

I’ll end this with my favorite slogan about election season: If you don’t vote, you can’t bitch. That includes if you decided not to vote as your own “statement.” I hope these election results, whether you like them or not, are a motivating force for the American people to do something with their political beliefs. For some, it may be something as small as picking up a book in order to educate themselves more in order to shape their political views; that’s great too. I really am a firm believer that higher efficacy leads to higher voting, and in turn, leads to a better government “of the people, by the people, for the people” and all that other sentimental stuff.