The 2010 U.S. Election Results

[Monkey Riding Dragon]

My prediction of the results:

In the House: The Democrats lose the House of Representatives. The new alignment will be, I predict, 227 seats for the Republicans and 208 seats for the Democrats. This means the Republicans will gain 48 seats. Thus the balance of power therein will shift radically from the current 256 Democrats to 179 Republicans.

In the Senate: The Democrats will narrowly retain overall control of the Senate. However, the Republicans will gain 8 seats: Colorado, Illinois, Nevada, Arkansas, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and North Dakota. This will shift the balance of power therein from 59-41 to 51-49.

In Gubernatorial Races: The Republicans will gain 11 new state governorships (Illinois, New Mexico, Oregon, Wisconsin, Iowa, Michigan, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Kansas, and Wyoming) and lose 2 (Connecticut and Hawaii), thus experiencing a net gain of 9. Thus the balance of state governorships will shift from 29 Democrats to 21 Republicans to instead 30 Republicans to 20 Democrats.

I've established a reputation on several other message boards for consistently predicting election outcomes with at least 98% accuracy. We'll see if that holds true in this case.

[Kassad]

You're totally forgetting about Ohio. Rob Portman is going to win the Senate seat, although the retiring incumbent was a Republican, so that's another seat they'll retain. Also, the Democratic governor Ted Strickland is dead in the water. John Kasich, the Republican, is going to mop the floor with his ass.

[gorillafuck]

John Lynch (D) is going to be the New Hampshire governor again. It's not much of a contest.

The NH senate election will have Kelly Ayotte (R) beat Paul Hodes (D). Jeanne Shaheen (D) is probably going to keep her seat.

Besides that, it's somewhat hard to tell right now in this state.

[TwoSevensClash]

All I know is the right wing pundits are going to make me sick with their post election analysis:cursing: I don't think much will change in New Jersey its mega gerrymandered.

[Martin Blank]

I think this is a pretty fair assessment by MRD, and comes close to what we're seeing (our forecast: in the House, 225-210 with Republicans regaining control; in the Senate, 50-49 with the next couple months full of both parties courting Joe Lieberman; governors, 31-19 with Republicans also prevailing in many state legislatures). The Wednesday edition of WPA will have full coverage of the aftermath of this latest political sweepstakes.

[Weezer]

My predictions:

The Congress will be dominated by capitalists, holding 535 out of the 535 seats.

[A Revolutionary Tool]

My predictions:

The Congress will be dominated by capitalists, holding 535 out of the 535 seats.
Lol correction, 534 seats will be held by capitalists, one by that socialist Bernie Sanders ;).

But I'm interested to see who wins the gubernatorial race in California. Brown v. Whitman and I really don't know which way it will go.

[Martin Blank]

My predictions:

The Congress will be dominated by capitalists, holding 535 out of the 535 seats.

:rolleyes:

Thanks for taking politics so seriously.

[~Spectre]

The most exciting part is the fate of prop 19 (the legalization of weed in California).

Besides the benefits for the people of California itself, it'll be a good example for others to try an end the so called war on drugs (the war on poor people).

doRymwwLdE0


Now that's a good fuckin' political ad.

[KurtFF8]

My predictions:

The Congress will be dominated by capitalists, holding 535 out of the 535 seats.

While this is true, that doesn't mean that if a party is capitalist that they will do the exact same thing the other party will do.

We do indeed have to understand that both are pro-capitalist, but we'd be silly to not try to judge the real impact that one center-right party will have over the other right wing party will have.

When the GOP is looking to cut unemployment and programs like food stamps: leftists should pay attention and analyze it.

Leftists also have no illusions about the Democrats, but the parties have real differences that can change the factors in the overall class struggle

[Salyut]

The most exciting part is the fate of prop 19 (the legalization of weed in California).

Besides the benefits for the people of California itself, it'll be a good example for others to try an end the so called war on drugs (the war on poor people).

doRymwwLdE0


Now that's a good fuckin' political ad.

Last I heard it was too close to call. :(

[Weezer]

Lol correction, 534 seats will be held by capitalists, one by that socialist Bernie Sanders ;).

But I'm interested to see who wins the gubernatorial race in California. Brown v. Whitman and I really don't know which way it will go.

Bernie Sanders is the average social democrat.

But he's a nice change from the usual, I s'ppose.

[Die Neue Zeit]

No, Sanders is a Blairite.

[Rusty Shackleford]

California has just created the brown sandwich.

looks like shit.
smells like shit.
tastes like shit.
is shit.

man this was a boring outcome. 19 wont even pass.

http://inlandpolitics.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/jerry_brown.jpg

I would like to thank you all for voting for me, I'm going to be slashing social spending and raising pension and retirement ages. A special shout out to the CP-USA and the Unions for not breaking with us yet!

tGDT7wKvdRk



OH and FUCKING RAND PAUL IS IN CONGRESS NOW

[Amphictyonis]

There is no difference between Democrats and Republicans. Social laws are changed by social consciousness changing. Economic systems are changed via revolution (which also necessitates a shift in social consciousness). The amount of "go democrats" vibe I'm getting in this thread makes me sad. If drugs are legalized it will be because the people demanded it. If gay marriage is legalized nation wide it will be because the people demanded it. If capitalism is overthrown it will be because the people demanded it.

[A Revolutionary Tool]

Bernie Sanders is the average social democrat.

But he's a nice change from the usual, I s'ppose.
I was only being sarcastic...:).
I'm just waiting to see if prop 19 passes. If it doesn't I know a lot of young people that are going to be pissed.

[The Vegan Marxist]

I was only being sarcastic...:).
I'm just waiting to see if prop 19 passes. If it doesn't I know a lot of young people that are going to be pissed.

It didn't pass. :crying:

[GPDP]

It didn't pass. :crying:

Not surprised. It's not a presidential election year, which means as a whole, voter turnout is lower, especially among minorities, lower class people, and the "progressive" base. The polls showed sentiment was split evenly on the issue, so anyone who knows which types of voters are most likely to turn out (older, white conservative men) it should not surprise anyone it didn't pass.

[A Revolutionary Tool]

It didn't pass. :crying:
Fuck, tomorrow at school is going to be tense. I see non-stop debate about this in classes tomorrow. Should be a fun day I guess, kind of. Well the only good thing to come out of these elections is dead, sad day.

[Crux]

It didn't pass. :crying:
Damn it.

[Amphictyonis]

It didn't pass. :crying:

Because marijuana is not a social norm yet (although close). I wonder how we make socialism a social norm ;)

[Red Commissar]

I wonder how we make socialism a social norm ;)

When our devious plans of cultural marxism destroy 'murica.

On a more serious note, it is amusing. The conservatives and the like will naturally be happy about taking back "their" country, the liberals will bemoan their failures, the careerists shrug, shake hands, and move on, and all the while the capitalist never stops smiling.

I'm just disappointed that Rand Paul got his seat. Meh, maybe people will see how much of a moron he is once he gets into full-blown politiking.

[What Would Durruti Do?]

I wonder how we make socialism a social norm ;)

Newspapers!

[~Spectre]

It didn't pass. :crying:

Partly because the weed growing Kulaks organized against it. The legalization would've driven down prices.

[Nolan]

Bye bye dems, don't let the door hit you on your way out. Hello same people we had 2 years ago.

[Theoneontheleft]

You're totally forgetting about Ohio. Rob Portman is going to win the Senate seat, although the retiring incumbent was a Republican, so that's another seat they'll retain. Also, the Democratic governor Ted Strickland is dead in the water. John Kasich, the Republican, is going to mop the floor with his ass.

Sadly, you were so correct in your prediction.:thumbdown:

http://www.wtov9.com/politics/25616672/detail.html

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2010/11/03/GOPs-Portman-wins-Ohios-US-Senate-race/UPI-25851288746590/

[GPDP]

lol, now the liberals are trying to damage control by pointing out that this will lead to gridlock in the government, which will guarantee Obama's reelection somehow.

I swear, even in the face of reaction, liberals still find a way to amp up the smugness.

[syndicat]

it appears the Repubs gained 46 seats, giving them a 7 seat majority. it'll make a difference, somewhat. but the Dems brought this on themselves. when they use deceit and vague promises to get the working class to vote for them, but then disappoint the hopes of those people, and act as shills for the corporations and the rich, they have only themselves to blame when lack of voting by the working class leads to their defeat.

[The Fighting_Crusnik]

Overall from what I can tell, we're either going to see the same old crap that we saw that during the past 10 years, or nothing is going to happen because they won't stop fighting. Interestingly enough, a lot of liberals are wondering if the republicans, especially the tea party ones, will vote in favor to race the debt cieling. If they refuse to and the ceiling isn't raised, then there is a slight chance that the US could be forced to default on its debt...

[syndicat]

in South Carolina the Dem establishment sabotaged the black Dem candidate...not giving him money, endorsing a writein, etc. That's because he defeated the establishment candidate in the primary. It appears racist. here's a piece on it:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2010/nov/03/us-midterm-elections-2010-us-politics1

[~Spectre]

There will no longer be any African-Americans in the Senate. Not a single one.

In Arizona (state where they passed the racist immigration laws that were written by the prison industrial complex) they've now banned Affirmative-Action.

For too long the black man has kept the white man down!

[~Spectre]

Also, the fate of the Iowa Judges that ruled in favor of Gay marriage, is quite disturbing.


DES MOINES, Iowa — Iowa voters have voted to remove three state Supreme Court justices, siding with conservatives angered by a ruling that allowed gay marriage.
The vote Tuesday was the first time Iowa voters have removed a Supreme Court justice since the current system began in 1962.
The three who weren't retained were Chief Justice Marsha Ternus and justices David Baker and Michael Streit. They were the only justices up for retention this year.
They were on the court of seven justices who unanimously decided last year that an Iowa law restricting marriage to one man and one woman violated the state's constitution.
Gay marriage opponents spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on the campaign. A group of former governors, lawyers and judges said the justices' removal would threaten Iowa's independent judiciary.


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/11/03/iowa-judges-gay-marriage_n_778100.html

U.S. society is getting uglier day by day. For their complicity in expanding equality, these judges were targeted and eliminated.

You had republican candidates that advocated welfare prisons, and claimed that homosexuals were dysfunctional. One Senator was against the integration of businesses, and one congresswoman last night couldn't bring herself to say "no" when asked if she'd use her subpoena power to investigate people for "un-American activities".

The social atmosphere in this country is getting toxic as fuck.

[Martin Blank]

For those of you who thought the "Tea Party" Nativists were a joke or would die out, of the roughly 140 Nativist candidates who ran, about 120 of them won last night.

[Conscript]

New joisey now has a republican senator and republican governor. :|

[Rusty Shackleford]

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/11/03/MN3A1G6GLM.DTL&tsp=1

Jerry Frown is at it already. vowing to make the government more "austere" meaning more and more cuts, that will go deep as hell. I bet education is on the chopping block as well. And he was campaigning for education, but we all know bourgeois politicians dont keep their promises.


(11-03) 17:30 PDT OAKLAND -- California (http://topics.sfgate.com/topics/California) governor-elect Jerry Brown (http://www.sfgate.com/jerry-brown/), warning that Californians sent a message in Tuesday's election that they are "in no mood to add to their burdens" with new taxes, said Wednesday he has begun laying the groundwork for cutting government costs and repairing the "broken process" of producing a state budget.
Brown, at a news conference just hours after beating Republican former CEO Meg Whitman (http://www.sfgate.com/meg-whitman/) by 54-41 percent, outlined his immediate agenda as he prepares to return to the job he held as a 36-year-old after being elected to his first of two terms from 1975 to 1983.
"I'm going to try to pare down as much as I possibly can," said Brown, speaking to reporters in his Oakland campaign headquarters. "I will engage in a process that will be exhausting, and it will be exhaustive - and it will be inclusive," he added, saying he will talk to labor, business leaders and voters.
Brown said he has started reaching out to legislative leaders on both sides of the aisle but had sobering words for Democrats who control both houses of the Legislature.
"My message is: Get ready for hard surfaces and benches as you sit in the kind of austere environment of a very carefully put together state government and budget," he said.
Brown, the state attorney general until his swearing in as governor in January, said he will get to work on his plans today, flying to Sacramento to meet with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (http://topics.sfgate.com/topics/Arnold_Schwarzenegger), the state's finance director, Assembly Speaker John Perez and others after attending the funeral of a police officer in Los Angeles (http://topics.sfgate.com/topics/Los_Angeles).
He said he will take a take a few days off beginning Friday and return Tuesday to begin what he said will be a long, "painful" and collaborative process of crafting a leaner state budget that will not be easy for any of the key players.
Brown said he has asked Chief Deputy Attorney General James Humes to assist in his transition, adding that he is not ready to appoint a chief of staff. He even questioned whether the post may even be necessary as he asks legislators to pare back their costs.
"I want to rethink the structure, I want to flatten the administration," he said, adding that he wants to explore "organizing state government to make it leaner, more responsive and more coherent."
Brown said he will make not seek to replace any of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's current department and agency heads for the time being to allow ample time to assess them.
The former Oakland mayor also said he will continue living in the Oakland hills with his wife, Anne Gust Brown, although they will find a place to live in Sacramento that will be "modest." Still, he said, "I'm not selling (the Oakland) house until it maintains it's original value, and that may take a lot of work on my part."
Brown headed a Democratic ticket Tuesday in blue-leaning California, where voters resisted the "red tide" sweeping the nation. He added that the message from voters was clear: "The voters last night turned down a mere $18-a-year (car) tax by about 60 percent, so I would say that the electorate is in no mood to add to their burdens."
He said Californians passed Proposition (http://www.sfgate.com/propositions/) 25, which ends the two-thirds legislative majority for passing a state budget, while also approving Proposition 26, which calls for a two-thirds vote to pass fees.
"The taxpayers gave - and they also took away," he said. "On the one hand, people said, 'by majority give us a budget' and on the other, they said, 'don't pick my pocket.' "
"What we have to do is win the confidence and trust of the people of California," he said. That, he added, will require competing groups - Republicans, Democrats, labor unions and business - to "push toward a common interest."
Brown left open the possibility that the process could involve going to the ballot to get voter approval on government spending, cuts and even the remodeling of the budgetary process.
A veteran of 40 years in state politics, Brown said he is keenly aware that his window of opportunity is small, the task is tough and that voters will be tough when grading him on his performance.
"Politicians come and politicians go, and the people are looking for things to be better," he said. "And if you can't deliver, they get somebody else to try.
"I've been up and I've been down," said Brown. "I'm going to do my darndest to stay up."





http://groovetek.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/Protesters-beat-a-riot-po-010.jpg
http://www.acus.org/files/images/france-black-thursday-strike.preview.jpghttp://www.cbc.ca/gfx/images/news/photos/2010/09/07/w-france-strike-cp-rtr2i05h.jpg
http://www.truthout.org/files/images/hyattw1.jpg


UW8UlY8eXCk



and yes, i had to use the KKK

[Jazzhands]

here's my analysis.

on the one hand, it means that the right-wing is gaining some short-term victories, but it also means that people are generally upset with both parties, and they're reelecting the republicans because there aren't enough functional others. America functions a little differently than European countries in terms of elections. They have a 51% requirement for either candidate to win, not just who got the most electoral votes. This means that there is no place for third parties in the American system. The only options for America are the Republicans (far-right), the Democrats (center-right) and the Tea Party (MAKE TOTAL DESTROY!!). The republicans looked better because they aren't in charge at this particular moment in time. With a serious reform in election rules to change from a two-party system to a many-party system, a left party with an actual platform and coherent program could make some serious gains given the current climate.

[Technocrat]

Fucking idiotic conservatives and teabaggers need to all die.

Just venting.

Propaganda beats education because it's so much easier to the average idiot American who probably couldn't name 10 presidents if his fucking life depended on it. The one with the most money has the most successful propaganda campaign. Democracy in America is fucking dead. Koch brothers need to fucking die, too.

Basically, everything conservatives/teabaggers say is a fucking lie: Taxes actually WENT DOWN during the past two years. The bailouts were a success that turned a PROFIT. The debt increased by a NORMAL AMOUNT. Conservatives just make shit up!

[WeAreReborn]

For those of you who thought the "Tea Party" Nativists were a joke or would die out, of the roughly 140 Nativist candidates who ran, about 120 of them won last night.
I think it was more of a delusional hope then not taking them seriously.

[Magón]

The stupidity and nativity us here in California had to deal with for those against Prop 19.

97RquPufXPc

[Dimentio]

in South Carolina the Dem establishment sabotaged the black Dem candidate...not giving him money, endorsing a writein, etc. That's because he defeated the establishment candidate in the primary. It appears racist. here's a piece on it:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2010/nov/03/us-midterm-elections-2010-us-politics1

That was not because he was black but because:

* He was totally unknown.

* Totally unable to win

[Dimentio]

Fucking idiotic conservatives and teabaggers need to all die.

Just venting.

Propaganda beats education because it's so much easier to the average idiot American who probably couldn't name 10 presidents if his fucking life depended on it. The one with the most money has the most successful propaganda campaign. Democracy in America is fucking dead. Koch brothers need to fucking die, too.

Basically, everything conservatives/teabaggers say is a fucking lie: Taxes actually WENT DOWN during the past two years. The bailouts were a success that turned a PROFIT. The debt increased by a NORMAL AMOUNT. Conservatives just make shit up!

This assertion isn't entirely correct. In general, the Republicans are drawing votes from those with higher incomes. The reason is not only ignorance, but anger that money is transferred from those with higher incomes to those with lower.

[Monkey Riding Dragon]

Some limited analysis on my part. More may follow in the coming days.

Obama really focused on getting people's hopes up for big changes in Washington. He couldn't deliver (and moreover never had any intention to) and thus his principal base of support, the youth, didn't vote for his party again this time. They overwhelmingly stayed home. Two years ago everyone was celebrating the president's victory under the notion that the election of the first African American president would mark a historic shift in the condition of this country. Two years later, we see that the greater the cynical promotion of "hope" and "change", the greater the popular disillusionment.

The elderly, meanwhile, turned out in larger numbers than usual and more supportive of the GOP than usual because it was the Democrats who passed the recent health care reform. The reform in question was primarily just a protracted transfer of funds from Medicare (the state provider of health insurance to the elderly) to Medicaid (the state subsidizer of medical insurance for many of the poor). The principal victim of the new policy is hence the retired, since under it they lose an increasing array of Medicare coverage over time. They, in this election, opted to show up to the polls and vote for the party that didn't pass a law cutting their retirement benefits. Medicare is among the two most popular government programs, surveys continually show.

To illustrate this point: while young voters (here I'm referring to those aged 18 to 29) comprised 18 percent of the vote in 2008, they made up only 10 percent of those who turned out at the polls on Tuesday. Those over 65 comprised 15 percent of the vote in 2008, but 24 percent of the vote here in 2010. 48 percent of the elderly voted Republican in 2008. That figure jumped to 58 percent here in 2010, marking one of the biggest swings among any demographic group.

The press, of course...now almost universally commercial (including the so-called public interest outlets)...is doing what it gets paid to do: portray everything as a dramatic "rightward shift" in public opinion. (The BBC has provided an array of sample U.S. headlines showcasing the overdramatization of the outcome. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/world_news_america/9156945.stm)) Obama has already renewed his pledge (temporarily suspended around March of this year in light of the emerging health care struggle initiated not by Obama, but by now-defeated House Speaker Nancy Pelosi) to "find common ground" with the Republican lunatics, whose proposals this year included such things as implementing a regime of state religion (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101020/ap_on_el_se/us_delaware_senate_18) (fortunately O'Donnell was narrowly defeated, but her idea was not) and eliminating birthright citizenship (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/10/19/birthright-citizenship-un_0_n_768583.html). Earlier this year, as we'll recall, they also moved to jail women in Utah for having miscarriages. At least one of their House candidates participated in an actual pro-Nazi group. (http://www.wsws.org/articles/2010/oct2010/nazi-o12.shtml) So these are the types of people that will be running whole sections of the U.S. government and to whose aims the American president has already vowed to bow to (as usual). I hope this fact would make one feel rather uncomfortable.

But one of the more insulting aspects of this campaign in my mind was the process by which voters were won over. The astonishing torrent of cynical filth that filled the air waves of every network (http://www.wsws.org/articles/2010/nov2010/pers-n02.shtml) was the perfect showcase of the impact of permitting the unrestricted flow of soft money into election campaigns.

It is also worth remembering though that this was essentially an anti-incumbent election more than simply a colossal Republican victory (although, by default, it was that as well). The outcome in my native Vermont illustrates this point. Here you'll find a decent map-out of the outcome as it's projected thus far. (http://news.yahoo.com/page/2010electionsdashboard) If you look at the outcome in Vermont, you'll find that, in the gubernatorial race, there was an upset here as well: the incumbent Republican governor appears to have been defeated by a Democratic challenger. Well...actually, that might be a product of the general anti-incumbent sentiment in American broadly...or it could be just the latest expression of liberalism here, it's hard to tell. After all, the incumbent Democrats in our House and Senate races also retained their respective seats easily. There were no GOP victories in Vermont, and in fact a GOP defeat in the race for the governorship. Well, the the main practical significance of our gubernatorial race here in my mind is that it virtually assures the legalization of marijuana here. Most people here seem to support pot legalization, as does most of the Democrat-controlled state legislature. The Republican governor has been viewed and the principal obstacle to that trajectory. With that obstacle removed, I'd say pot legalization within the next few years in Vermont is almost a certainty. (The defeated Republican governor was actually one of the more "moderate" GOP partisans anyway though. Y'know, pro-choice and all that sort of thing. You can't win election here if you're not at least socially moderate.)

Anyhow, yes this outcome thoroughly discredits all those who have insisted this entire time that it's our role as progressives to critically or uncritically support whatever initiative the president might propose because he's supposedly "on our side". That overwhelmingly is exactly what the American left has done since Obama won election...and these are the results. So many people, including many well-meaning people, have tied their hopes to the election of Democrats over the last 4 years in particular. What happens to them now that their hopes have been dashed? Probably: they give up on politics and, in depression, accept their plight, such as it may be. Therein lies why this outcome will serve as a colossal setback not just for Obama and the Democrats and the sections of the financial aristocracy, capitalist class, and labor aristocracy that fund them and align with them, but also for the American left generally. What is needed is an independent and revolutionary political alternative serving the interests of the oppressed and exploited masses of the world.

[DragonQuestWes]

The stupidity and nativity us here in California had to deal with for those against Prop 19.

97RquPufXPc

I just love the annotations rebutting against what the commercial threw out.

People say Marijuana is addicting yet they sit in front of the TV all the time.

[Property Is Robbery]

Prop 19 lost :(

[Property Is Robbery]

Not surprised. It's not a presidential election year, which means as a whole, voter turnout is lower, especially among minorities, lower class people, and the "progressive" base. The polls showed sentiment was split evenly on the issue, so anyone who knows which types of voters are most likely to turn out (older, white conservative men) it should not surprise anyone it didn't pass.

That's why they were going to originally but it on the ballot in 2012 so when all the young liberal air heads come out to vote for Obama they'll vote for their ganja as well. It'll pass in two years

[Technocrat]

This assertion isn't entirely correct. In general, the Republicans are drawing votes from those with higher incomes. The reason is not only ignorance, but anger that money is transferred from those with higher incomes to those with lower.

Uh, sort of. Republicans draw votes from those with high incomes AND those with less education, including those with low incomes living in rural areas (Republicans also tend to be more successful in rural areas, period). It's a little more complex than Republicans = rich, Democrats = poor.

[Rusty Shackleford]

democrats come from upper income families. the working class is slightly more aligned with the dems only because of the unions, not because of class consciousness. bourgeois ideology is almost ubiquitous in the working class here in the USA.

[syndicat]

re: south carolina:

That was not because he was black but because:

* He was totally unknown.

* Totally unable to win

not really, Repubs supported various whackos who had no chance and Dems support their official candidates in races where they don't have much chance. but they don't usually undermine them by suggesting people vote for a writein.

[CAleftist]

The U. S. is really in a political crisis.

Republican, Democrat...pfftt.

[Monkey Riding Dragon]

Hmmm...Here are a few different views on the elections provided by various 'Marxist' sources. They cover a pretty wide gamut, actually:

1. The most conservative view is that of the Communist Party, which provides their outlook in this article (http://www.cpusa.org/election-2010-right-wing-glow-will-be-brief/) by their Chairman Sam Webb and in this podcast (http://www.cpusa.org/podcast-communist-party-analyzes-the-2010-elections/) by various CP members. They support Obama and the Democrats and argue that the public was duped by the media and major sections of the corporate aristocracy into voting for the wrong bourgeois party and that this outcome thus places their struggles "on the defensive". They contend that, as a result, what is needed going forward is the building of a stronger "people's coalition" with the Democrats in preparation for mass disillusionment with the Republican Party in 2012. You see, in the CP's world of bureaucratic maneuvering, all key political shifts correspond to election dates.

2. The World Socialist Web Site (which is provided by the Trotskyist Socialist Equality Party) has offered full coverage of the elections and the outcome since the start of the month, so they've come out with at least one or two new articles on the subject every day since then. This one (http://www.wsws.org/articles/2010/nov2010/pers-n02.shtml) provided on election day and this one (http://www.wsws.org/articles/2010/nov2010/vote-n04.shtml) provided on the 4th provide probably the best overall analysis they've offered so far. This perspective is probably the most conventional Marxist reading. The WSWS argues that this outcome is precisely the byproduct of people having hitched their hopes for a better America and world to the Democratic Party and Obama and that hence the solution is to rupture with that liberal wing of the bourgeoisie and build an independent revolutionary and socialist movement around a corresponding party (the SEP, so they contend).

3. This (http://llco.org/archives/8777) is the most unorthodox perspective I've read. It's provided by the Revolutionary Anti-Imperialist Movement and promoted at the link by the Maoist-Third Worldist Leading Light Communist Organization. If you can get past their typically distasteful and childish style of presentation (e.g. the choice of slogan, pictures, etc.), the underlying theory they present actually is pretty interesting. They argue that the American electorate basically has a fair say in their internal politics, but that whereas America is the world's top-dog empire and hence more or less runs the world at present, the oppressed and exploited populations of the whole world should be able to vote in U.S. elections. It's an interesting argument. It would imply that whereas American troops are occupying and pretty much running Afghanistan in a colonial fashion, for instance, therefore Afghans should be allowed to vote in American elections because that's the only avenue through which they can have a legitimate say in the political decisions that affect their daily lives. It's on the basis of this type of thinking that they insist American politics are still highly undemocratic.

Just figured I'd provide those various perspectives as food for thought.

[ZeroNowhere]

That makes 1992, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2006, 2008 and now 2010. And yet the media is keen to portray this as somehow a revolutionary shift in US politics.

[Comrade Marxist Bro]

That makes 1992, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2006, 2008 and now 2010. And yet the media is keen to portray this as somehow a revolutionary shift in US politics.

Absolutely, ZeroNowehere. Not only are the differences between the two parties cosmetic 95 times out of 100, but the two absolutely corrupt parties share all power over Congress, the presidency, and the judiciary in exactly the same way that a married couple shares a bed. The presidency is a rotating institution, with a Republican or Democrat installed every four to eight years. Seats in the Congress are also rotated, with the majority and minority positions ever shifting to-and-fro.

Without Democratic support, we would have had no USA PATRIOT Act police-state tactics, no tacit support for Israeli war crimes, no warmongering against Iraq, no "free trade" outsourcing of jobs to benefit the rich, and no mega-bailouts for the cappies at the expense of all the rest of us. Whatever differences the media may like to highlight, the two parties run it all together. American politics have been effectively "bipartisan" since times immemorial.

Moreover, the entire enterprise of governing is so corrupt that you can never predict what's going to happen. So we saw plenty of well-intentioned liberals voting for the "progressive" Obama on the basis of their disdain for McCain's militarism, only to end up with one more bellicose warmonger -- albeit with an accent that sounds slightly more pleasant to the duped and ignorant.

Perhaps that's why we see Obama's rating going where Bush's went.

Though so it goes, every election cycle is presented as a "revolutionary" development in national politics, so that even as a dissenting, principled American, you'd better get in there and support the lesser evil for the good of everyone. And one more time the criminals in power are emboldened by the clueless masses to go on with the charade.

Any regular person who still bothers to vote for any of these crooks just hasn't figured the system's mechanisms out.