Whew. It’s finally over. The 2010 campaign season that some pundits have declared the ugliest, nastiest, most negative in American history.
Well, actually it’s not quite over. They’re still counting ballots in the Colorado senate race between Michael Bennet (D) and Ken Buck (R). Bennet’s leading by less than 1% of the vote, and some 3% of the vote has yet to be reported. A recount is possible, if only because at one point last night, a block of 30,000 votes for Bennet was credited first to Buck, and then changed.
Most everything I voted for or against turned out the way I wanted, so as far as Colorado goes I’m reasonably satisfied. Our new governor is John Hickenlooper (D), the man who refused to run a negative ad. You may recall that in one of his ads he took multiple showers with his clothes on. His opponent, Tom Tancredo (ACP), got about 36% of the vote, and the Republican candidate finished with 11% of the vote, barely enough to keep the Republicans from being relegated to minor party status on the next ballot.
I was relieved to hear that sanity prevailed and Denver’s proposed “ET Commission” was voted down. Oh, snap. (I thought it interesting yesterday that someone landed on this blog because they searched “Denver ballot healthcare extraterrestrials.” It’s one thing to greet ET, quite another to offer him health care.)
I don’t know what will happen in Washington now. Things couldn’t get much worse, so maybe we’ll see some improvement. Meantime, the commentators are already slicing and dicing the 2012 presidential race. Hoo, boy, it never ends.
It will get better. We have had ten years of unchecked power by one party in both chambers of congress and the executive branch. It doesn’t matter which party it was: absolute power corrupts absolutely.
Now, the balance of power has become more even. I believe this will open up more communication and cooperation. The Republicans in the lower house will generate bills, to be passed or rejected by the Democratic senate, and signed or vetoed by the President. Bills will cycle around and around until they get things right. This is our constitution at work.
I hope you’re right, cuz I’m fresh out of optimism right now.