Historical Perspective

I agree with Yglesias HERE re: midterm slaughter is an acceptable price to pay for such huge legislation as the Affordable Care Act. Winning games is fun, but winning championships is funner. I'm sure the Civil Rights act cost a few seats back in the day, but I doubt there was a black guy in 1965 who thought "yeah, having the right to be served at a restaurant like a human is nice, but I sure would've rather fewer liberal conservatives lost their seats in the South." I'm sure in the future some guy isn't gonna think "I'm glad I'm not gonna lose my right arm just because I didn't check a box right on a form 11 years ago, but I'd sure trade it in a heartbeat for a slim Democratic majority in Congress." As his link to Ross Douthat says:

Politics often gets covered as though the legislative sessions are just a long prelude to the real action of election season. But for all the breathless horse-race coverage, elections only matter to the extent that they produce (or forestall) actual legislation. And where the policies of the United States government are concerned, all the ground the Republicans regained tonight doesn’t change the fact that what liberals achieved in Barack Obama’s first two years in office was more consequential than any conservative victories in recent memory.

It ain't no fun when the rabbit got the gun, but I can live with only getting one shot every coupla election cycles if it means actual change for the better. We've insisted on turning the rest into reality tv anyway.


Hey, look at this!