It is now the day after the long anticipated Election Day in America. The supposed Blue Wave that was supposed to permeate the polls did not exactly happen the way Democrats expected it to happen. There were some disappointments in high-stakes race. Stacey Abrams may not win the gubernatorial race in Georgia. Andrew Gillum lost the governor’s seat to Ron DeSantis in Florida. Texas went red again after Beto O’Rourke lost to Ted Cruz in the Senate race.
However, we should not downplay yesterday’s results. There was a blue wave. It crashed upon shore. It fought to get here. The Democrats gained control of the House of Representatives yesterday. A historic number of women pulled up a seat to the elected table yesterday. Amendment 4 passed in Florida yesterday, allowing 1.4 million people to restore their voting rights. Ayanna Presley is Massachusetts’s first black congresswoman. Jared Polis became Colorado’s first openly gay governor. NY-14 elected Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez, the youngest woman to be elected into Congress.
The past two years have been tumultuous to say the least. We’ve all been awaiting this midterm election to see how upset people truly are about this administration and its wrongdoings. Voters are engaged. People are empowered. To say that this election was a disappointment is to disregard the energy, effort and work put forth for this day. What 2016 revealed to us was a latent force in this country that breeds racism, sexism and a xenophobic nature. It did not appear suddenly; It was contained until Donald Trump provided an outlet for it to reveal itself.
The past two years, people have stepped up to do what they can to fight this fight whether it’s deciding to run for office, reporting, protesting, organizing or reaching out to their representatives. We owe this ability to the freedom of speech for giving us a voice for political and social dissent. Extreme political change does not happen over night, or over 730 nights. It is a process that builds upon each other through political socialization and a change in political culture. The midterm results showed that. We built upon 2016. We will continue to build upon 2018’s results if we continue to use our First Amendment right to activate and engage. The media will continue to report. Individuals will continue to vote. Groups will continue to organize. We still stand. We are still fighting.
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I agree. I think the passing of Amendment 4 in Florida is a particularly important victory. The cases we’ve studied in class have driven home the point that the unalienable rights that were fought for during the American Revolution are still not being applied to every American equally; we’ve seen this with the freedoms guaranteed to us by the First Amendment, and can see it with nationwide systemic disenfranchisement. That 1.4 million Americans were restored their right to vote is a victory that can’t be understated, but the fact that their voting rights were stripped from them in the first place is a stark reminder that freedom is an ongoing battle. Great post!
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I completely agree with everything said. While the media keeps reporting that there wasn’t a “blue wave” there WAS a blue wave. We gained the house and that power alone will better keep the administration in check. I was with a lot of other people on Tuesday night watching as the votes came in, I kept rooting for Beto O’Rourke to finally put an end to Ted Cruz. While I was extremely disappointed that did not happen, just the fact of seeing Texas partially blue was incredible. Throughout the past two years of Trump in the administration, I have seen hate, lying, obstruction, and just plain bullying. Instead of giving up people put even more effort into running, into trying to change our country for the better. That alone I am extremely impressed with. While there might not have been a “complete” blue wave, there was a pink female wave and I could not be any more prouder to see that, especially in this day and age! Great post!
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