Elections

A very long day yesterday.  I got press-ganged by my buddy, Eric, to work at the polling station at Nugget Mall.  We were there just before 6 AM and I didn't leave until after 9 PM.  And I was the first of the team of five to leave...

It was an interesting experience.  We worked the Airport Precinct which extends as far south as Switzer Creek.  It is certainly more conservative than the downtown precincts and also attracted a lot of "walk-ins" who resided throughout the borough and even a number of folks from out-of-town.  As I recall, we issued around 970 ballots and over 150 of them were voted as "questioned" ballots. 

I was working one of the two "sign-in" stations and time after time a voter would start the conversation with something like "I don't think this is my precinct; but can I vote here anyway?"  I believe a very solid majority of these folks were persons under the age of 35 and it was abundantly clear they didn't "get" why they were required to present themselves at a particular place at a particular time in order to exercise their right to vote.

And frankly, I don't get it either.  By national standards Alaska's election system is reasonably fair and free of the sort of overt partisan voter suppression efforts that have been so evident elsewhere. Still, Alaska's system is  horse and buggy stuff and one cannot help but conclude that in a geographically challenged, sparsely populated,  and demographically mobile and diverse state like Alaska that it's well past time for a 21st century make-over.  Vote by mail comes immediately to mind although I'm sure there are other more technologically advanced options as well.

Of course, reform of the election system is not likely to be on the agenda for our Republican Governor and newly minted Republican House and Senate.  They will be far too busy coddling Big Oil.

As to the national poll, all I can say is "Whew!"  I was cautiously optimistic that President Obama would prevail but was very pleasantly surprised by the gain of a couple of Senate seats as well.  And while gains in the House were modest; they were gains nonetheless.

What happens next will largely depend on what lessons the GOP takes to heart from the election.  And I guess the odds would be that continued national political gridlock will be the order of the day.

Still, it will be fascinating to watch the internal machinations of the Republicans.  And while it would be premature, at best, to predict any sort of major realignment of the body politic; it is certainly the case that tensions within the GOP will have to be resolved in some fashion.

The decades old coalition of money (both corporate and private) and social conservatives is showing its age and is looking mighty frayed around the edges.  One would expect that the first reaction of each faction will be to blame the other for the GOP's dismal performance. 

The social conservatives will proclaim the problem was that Mr. Romney was just not a true conservative.

The folks who bankrolled the electoral fiasco will point their well manicured fingers at the grassroots tea party types and wonder out loud how Republicans will ever be able to compete nationally as long as the party continues to ignore the changing demographics of the country, demand the party's presidential contenders adopt positions that are abhorrent to a majority of Americans in order to secure the nomination, and then put forward certifiable nut cases like their recent Senate candidates in Missouri and Indiana. 

One is tempted to feel sorry for Speaker Boehner for whom these contradictions and conflicts are not in the least bit academic.  Come January he will have to manage the House majority's internal disputes in order to present a coherent Republican alternative to the President's agenda. 

The just say "No" strategy of the past four years may be tempting and will probably be the default position on many fronts.  But the"fiscal cliff" - the box that Speaker Boehner and other Congressional Republicans helped build last year with the expectation that a Republican President would subsequently dismantle it - now looms. 

Fasten your seat belts kids, it's going to be a bumpy ride.