That is what it has felt like all day long. Like so many of you i worked my heart out. I was an on-call lawyer for election issues that arose anywhere. Darting off to various precincts to squash voter suppression. (they always happen to be minority areas...save that for another diary)
That now feels like a lifetime ago. The hope and optimism of last week that i can hardly remember now. Today, i like you, awoke to a nightmare.
Yesterday was a good day wasn't it? Remember the exit polls that confirmed what we knew all along? They confirmed that our hard work, bush's failures and K/E's great closing would carry us to victory. We even had a big laugh together about the freepers losing their lunch and Rush going crazy. Some of us even wondered aloud if Hannity's head would spin as he was forced to call IT for K/E.
Sadly, it was not meant to be. Who knew that our country cares more about gay relationships, assault rifles and prayer in schools more than they care about the economy, healthcare, education, war, life, death, policy based on honesty etc etc etc.
I have not always been a democrat. I grew up and live in South Carolina where we are told since birth that demos are bad, god hating baby killing, tax and spend heathens.
Funny thing though. Woke up one day and realized by dad was not the CEO of Exxon. He was just a normal guy working hard to provide for his family. My first job when i was 15 was in a hot wharehouse making air filters. I'll never forget one of my co-workers getting up the nerve to ask the boss for a quarter an hour raise. It was not his summer job, it was his job. He needed the extra quarter an hour to help out at home.
Something did not seem right. I realized people did work hard but didn't get ahead. Sometimes they needed the gov't to help them along. There really were kids that needed a free lunch. There were single moms that worked hard but still couldn't afford to pay for a whole weeks worth of groceries. There were dads out there that worked their asses off but at the end of the day couldn't afford to give their kids christmas.
Who spoke for these people? The articles i read in the "conservative chronicle" talked about them, but they sure didn't speak for them. Rush talked about them, but again, he didn't speak for them. Then this guy named Clinton came along when i was in college. He talked about these people. Not only talked about them, he spoke for them. He really did feel their pain. Hell, i felt there pain.
I knew what it was like not to be able to run the a/c in summer b/c we just couldn't afford it or if i wanted to play with the newest, coolest toy, i'd hang out in the toy section at kmart, while mom shopped. We couldn't afford to bring them home.
Why the hell had i bought into this idea that the GOP was looking out for me? Well b/c no one had ever told me otherwise. There was no voice out there for a white southern boy like me telling me about the democratic party and why i belonged.
I went to law school, became a criminal lawyer and now plaintiffs lawyer. I am the dreaded, evil trial lawyer. I love it. I fight injustice every day;however, that job just got much much harder.
I'm sad. I took my six year old to school today. He's the one that called the race for Kerry last week. As i looked into his big blue eyes and thought of all the consequences of another four years of Bush at this time in our history, i cried.
I cried for my children and for children everywhere. Their chance at healthcare, improved education, level playing field, better jobs has evaporated.
Then i got mad. What went wrong? Was it stolen? Were we snookered? Who knows. We lost.
Then i thought of something an old lawyer told me long ago. He said i never learned much from the cases i won, but i sure learned a hell of lot from the cases i lost.
I learned a lot yesterday and today. We all did.
We are strong, loud, organized, diverse, emotional has hell, and we're not going anywhere.
Remember, i said earlier there was no voice for me? No one speaking for me. We have our voice: Kos, atrios, air america and many many others. We need to keep that voice growing loud and strong.
Yesterday we saw people like me, like us that just missed the boat. Working class people voting for republicans and tax cuts for billionaires. Something wrong with that picture? Yes. We need to reach out to them, speak for them and bring them into our party. They, like i was, are democrats but just don't know it.
Did the youth vote disappoint us? I don't know, maybe they did maybe they didn't. I sure saw a lot of young volunteers working the u.s. senate race here though that were energized for democrats.
Give them a voice, a purpose, a home. When you go to the gas station, grocery store, bar, cafe whatever, talk to them in your voice. Engage in political discussion. Welcome people into the fold.
We know the next four years will be bad. We can complain about it or we can do something about it.
We're already organized. Lets put it to good use. We saw the strength of the GOP in motivating their ultra conservative base. There are many moderates that don't like that part of the GOP anymore. Lets talk to them.
There are so many people that are not registered to vote. Well, lets get them registered. Not in the months leading up to the next "race". Lets start tomorrow.
Lets keep doing the meet ups, the rallies, the organizational meetings. In this time of our lives, the election never stops. The campaign never stops. We need to work everyday towards the next victory.
We really did win some yesterday. In our state senate we won several demo seats. We actually had a +1 gain in our state senate for democrats.
We lost some too. Lets learn from it. Lets keep our heads high, encourage each other, not beat each other down and work toward a better tomorrow.
The revolution does start now. Its already started.
As the prez says, its hard work. But we can do it. We already have. It was easy, it was fun and we will win!
The reason is very simple. Its the same thing i always tell a jury when i finish a closing argument. We win because they are wrong and we are right. It is as simple as that.