Californians are celebrating the return of their beloved Jerry Brown to his rightful place as Governor of the Golden State. Term limits weren't enacted until after his last two terms and so he can expect a full eight years of fixing all the bad stuff the Republicans did to Californians economy and social programs. Jerry Brown's legacy from 1975 to 1983 includes the veto of a death penalty bill and a moratorium on the building of nuclear power plants. It is widely hoped that Jerry Brown's victory will restore justice to the criminal justice system and save the state's residents from more cancer cases caused by the San Onofre and Diable Canyon nuclear power plants that continue to spew out radioactive particles into surrounding communities. With the return of Jerry Brown, Californians are expecting to adopt the single-payer health care bill that Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed three times.
November 2nd was a big win for California death penalty opponents. Shortly after becoming District Attorney of San Francisco, Kamala had to turn down a litany of requests that she run for the top prosecutor seat in the 2006 election. Kamala was propelled to fame when she kept a campaign promise and refused to seek the death penalty against a kid (David Hill) who was involved in a gang situation that resulted in an officer's death. Kamala had campaigned against the death penalty for her seat and she was not going to go back on her promise, in spite of pressure from then Attorney General Bill Lockyer, Dianne Feinstein, Barbara Boxer, and Jerry Brown. Lockyer tried to take over the case and failed.
The Democrats pulled seven out of seven top state seats in California on November 2, 2010. The Democrats picked up two seats in the legislature in California, increasing their control over the state. Leaders such as Lou Correa, who led the opposition to the SB 250 dog confiscation/extermination bill were returned by wide margins. .
While California looks good, nationally Barack Obama, Herry Reid and Nancy Pelosi cost the House it's majority and the Senate it's super-majority through an agenda that placed Republican priorities ahead of Democratic priorities. Pelosi, a death penalty advocate who supported a bill to strip-search school children, only retained her seat because she lives in San Diego, where a member of her family oversees the voting process. It is believed that the family connection is the reason San Francisco forgot to vote in 2008 when Cindy Sheehan challenged Pelosi. Reid was only returned because even the Republicans couldn't stomach Sharron Angle Better-liked Democrats were delivered up as sacrificial lambs to the corporate-backed Republican Party.
Kucinich's easy victory was no surprise. The people of Cleveland are familiar with Kucinich's record and know his importance. His name has become synonymous with integrity and honor.
The most tragic race in America was in Wisconsin, where the one Senator who refused corporate donations lost his seat to a well-funded corporate candidate. Russ Feingold has been the one consistent voice in the Senate for the people. Around the country, Democrats were saying they wouldn't mind losing all the other Democratic senators if they at least could keep Russ Feingold. Already, Americans are talking about running Feingold for President in 2012. There is very strong support for a Feingold-Kucinich ticket.
When a CEO costs his corporation insurmountable losses, he is usually asked to resign. Likewise, Democrats across the country are calling for Obama to step down in 2013.
The most popular choices for replacement of Nancy Pelosi as now minority leader of the House are Dennis Kucinich, Maxine Waters, Barbara Lee and Pete Stark. Some Democrats believe that Pelosi is too self-servicing to step down to allow a more popular leader to take over in the House. In 2008, when she spoke at the California Democratic Convention Chairman's reception, it was hard to hear her as delegates were too upset that the food had run out in the first few minutes to pay attention to a leader with whose agenda they disagreed.
The U.S. Senate has lost PATRIOT Act opponent, Real ID Act opponent, war opponent Russ Feingold, the only real leader the people had in that body. The other Senators all fell in line, voting against their conscience to approve the two bills that sold out America's freedoms.
The most popular choice to replace Harry Reid would be Ron Wyden of Oregon who voted against the war, against the renewal of the PATRIOT Act, against much of the war funding and against the selection of John Death Squad Negoponte as Director of National Intelligence. The people of Oregon were smart enough to re-elect Wyden on November 2nd.
Cleaning up the two Houses and the Presidency will meet with opposition from war interests and from Wall Street. The AIPAC war machine, which has given Pelosi over $100,000 in a seeming exchange of funds for passage of legislation, will not want to see her replaced by an honest leader who refuses their donations. Groups advocating the mass slaughter of nuns will not want to see someone like Wyden, who opposed Negroponte, become the Senate majority leader. Similarly, Goldman Sachs and General Dynamics will not want to lose their President. However, if the Democratic Party does not clean house, it will continue to lose election after election.
November 2nd's referendum on Obama was a validation of Harry Truman's point, "If it's a choice between a genuine Republican, and a Republican in Democratic clothing, the people will choose the genuine article, every time..." The real tragedy of November 2nd is that the people's only voice in the Senate was a casualty of Obama's Republican Administration.
