The outcomes Tuesday in balloting from Maine to Mississippi included enough wins for Democrats, abortion rights advocates, and labor unions to give a bit of a lift to President Obama and his allies as they look toward the 2012 elections, 12 months from tonight.
In Ohio, voters overwhelmingly rejected the law enacted last spring by Gov. John Kasich and the Republican-controlled legislature that limited the ability of public employee unions to collectively bargain.
The law also would have required performance-based pay for most public employees and required them to pay 15 percent of the cost of their health care benefits.
Democratic National Committee Chair Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz cheered the outcome in Ohio calling the law “a blatantly partisan attempt to lay the blame for our economy on middle-class Americans, while letting the wealthiest and special interests off the hook and not asking them to pay their fair share. Voters in Ohio know that targeting public employees for political reasons will do nothing to create jobs or boost Ohio’s economy.”
Of course, the marquee fight of the night was over Ohio's SB 5. The radical right was trying to silence the voice of Ohio's working class... And the radical right just fell flat on its face as its signature legislative item went down in flames.
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And in case that wasn't enough, homophobic bigotry went down in flames in Iowa as Republicans failed to flip Iowa's State Senate.
And the effort to suppress voter rights in Maine went down in flames as Mainers voted to reinstate their 38 year old law allowing for same day voter registration.
And the extreme right's attempt to outlaw not just abortion rights, but even birth control, in vetro fertilization, and emergency care to save women's lives, in Mississippi went down in flames as the "Call the Zygote a Person" initiative was soundly defeated.
The message last night couldn't have been any clearer: Voters rejected G-O-TEA extremism! In all these states, the radical right tried to pass off this radical agenda as "common sense", but voters weren't having any of it. They're still wondering where the jobs are. After all, last year they promised to show "laser focus" on the economy and job creation. Whatever happened to that?
Seriously, look at what GOP leaders have been pushing in Congress. And look at what they've been doing in the states. They may have promised "JOBS!", but instead they're delivering anti-worker, anti-woman, anti-equality, nonsense that does nothing but distract us with "TEH CUL-CHUR WARZZZ!!!"
Last night, voters in several states finally had a chance to have their say on this. And so far, it looks like they have no appetite for it. So what makes anyone think they'll want more next year? Americans are waiting for that "laser focus" on economic recovery and job creation. Where is it? Are Republicans noticing? If not, then they really need to stop gloating about President Obama's reelection being "DOOMED!"
Just saying.
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