The Sweet Pain Of The Supermajority

A left-wing blogger wonders what the left-wing blogosphere will do should Democrats win it all.

I had similiar thoughts about Democrats and the media after watching Neil Cavuto interview Senator Amy Klobuchar on his financial program Friday afternoon on Fox News.

By all accounts, Senator Klobuchar is bright, well-respected, and a rising star in the Democratic party. On Friday, Cavuto repeatedly professed his respect for her during his interview. But ALSO during the interview, Klobuchar tried to continually return to her talking points blaming Republicans for the current financial crisis. And Cavuto pointed out that Democrats have had control of Congress for two years--"don't you take part of the blame?" Klobuchar smiled and returned to her "it's the Republicans, stupid" talking points, while Cavuto pressed for some mention of the responsibility of Democrats time and again. It was like a verbal tennis match.

When I was first elected to the Iowa Legislature, I experienced the "sweet pain" of the supermajority--my party controlled the Governor's office, and both chambers of the legislature. It's a heady experience, because you can enact a number of partisan measures. However--your party alone is accountable for the results. Democrats in Iowa are experiencing the same emotional paradox as they now control the executive and legislative branches.

Democrats are dreaming of such a supermajority in Washington DC. Democratic policy makers and left-leaning think tanks are right to be excited about the possibilities. But with the responsibility, also comes the total accountability.

With the Los Angeles Times sitting on damaging info about Obama and a mainstream reporter now taking the media to task for bias, I wonder who the Democrats and media will blame for any failures over the next two years. Fox News? Rush Limbaugh? Alan Greenspan?

That's the beauty of our democratic system. While activists can believe in a utopia in which all their policies work perfectly as planned, voters always have the ability to provide a check on initiatives that do damage. That's why reporting a "permanent" or even "long-term" realignment are unrealistic--just ask the Republicans who basked in the glow of the election of 1994.

I continue to believe that, on election night, we'll see media folks look disbelievingly at their exit polls and inform viewers that some battleground states are "too close to call." The next day, President John McCain will begin his transition planning. That's not necessarily a bad thing for the Democratic party.