Beet
Atlas Star
Posts: 28,914
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« on: July 30, 2014, 08:57:29 AM » |
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2012- A great year all-around. I pounded the pavement big time and it felt like it paid off, even though it didn't alter the outcome. The fact that SCOTUS didn't overturn the Affordable Care Act was practically a miracle by June, only more miraculous was the fact that the Euro survived. The turning point was on July 26, when Mario Draghi said the ECB would do "whatever it takes" to defend it, just as I had always advocated as the solution.
2008- This one was sort of like the Song dynasty in the history of Imperial China, or the LBJ presidency. Both the best and the worst. It was definitely the most painful election year ever, due to the primary, hurt way more than 2000 or 2004 when Bush won. I felt stabbed in the back by my own purported allies on the left. No doubt they felt similarly, but hey, they won. The Palin-filled GE, and following economic meltdown was no picnic, either. All of this significantly dimmed Obama's win. So why is it so high? Well, I was working for a campaign and never more involved in politics than then. The sheer excitement of it all and what I learned wins in the end.
2010- It's funny how a year that's horrible for my party can be brightened by wins in a few key races that I really cared about, whereas a year that's great for my party can be nearly ruined by a few losses. But that's what happened here. In September, when Adrian Fenty and Mike Castle lost their primaries, it looked like it was going to be a year from hell. But on election night, Harry Reid survived, and the outcomes of races in Colorado, California, New York, Washington, Alaska, West Virginia and Connecticut were all gratifying. Of course, the Democrats took a shellacking overall, but I was expecting massive losses due to the economic situation. The biggest disappointments were probably losing Russ Feingold and getting Rick Scott.
2006- The opposite of 2010. A great year for Democrats, but by election night my hopes were too high and I remember being quite disappointed we didn't pick up the Minnesota governorship. Also a number of close House races were disappointing. Nonetheless still an exciting year and provided some satisfaction at dealing Bush Jr. his first ever unfavorable election.
2004- Nothing much to say about this one. I was pretty convinced Bush was going to win from the beginning and there were no real surprises.
2002- This was the night when it became fait accompli that we were going to war with Iraq, and apparent that Bush's politicization of 9/11 had paid off. The fiction of a 50/50 stalemate in American politics left over from 2000 was also broken. Many bad things stemmed from this night. The only good thing is that I found out one of my best friends, who I'm still friends with now, was a leftist.
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