I am SLOOOOOW MOOOOVING this morning. My God. My face and eyes are so swollen. I have fully taken on the sweet physical manifestations of sleep deprivation and stress eating truffle popcorn.
As many of you know, and if you didn't know and/or didn't vote I WANT TO TALK TO YOU, midterm elections were yesterday. The polls started closing at 6pm EST and went through the night. I eventually passed out around midnight but, with the stress of it all, I feel like I was up all night. I probably should've just gone to bed after it was clear the Democrats lost the Senate, but there was so much history being made, I had to stay up.
I wish I had posted more about the election leading up to it, but I'm really trying to control my cortisol levels lately & NOTHING stresses me like politics. I love politics, but my GOD, there was a reason I was balding my senior year of college. As I said to Rob, midterm/presidential elections are my Super Bowl with the caviat that this Super Bowl is a life or death situation that effects hundreds of millions of people in our country and across the world. I brought an entire box of chamomile tea with me to work today.
Obviously, Democrats fell short of securing the Senate majority but managed to, overwhelmingly, take the House. Pretty disappointing, but I felt like CNN's coverage was a little negative (that being said, who the fuck invited Rick Santorum to give his thoughts on a panel?) considering all of the good that came out of last night. I'm feeling REALLY hopeful for the 2020 election & as motivated as ever. SO many historic firsts last night worth noting - NINETY-SIX women were elected to the House last night! NINETY-SIX!!! It's still not half, and to be candid I can't wait for the day that women are the majority, but how amazing is that?!
Ayana Pressley is the first black woman elected to Congress in Massachusetts.
Sharice Davids and Deb Haaland are the first Native American women elected to Congress (Sharice is also the first openly lesbian congresswoman from Kansas!).
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, after winning a historic primary, is the youngest woman ever elected to Congress at age 29.
Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar are the first Muslim women ever elected to Congress. Omar was a Somalian refugee and Tlaib is the first Palestinian-American elected to Congress as well.
Jared Polis is the first openly gay governor in U.S. history.
Veronica Escobar and Sylvia Garcia are the first Latinx women elected to Congress in Texas.
Kristi Noem is South Dakota's first female governor.
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Not to mention the sheer amount of Democrat pickups in historically red zones - I'm definitely hopeful after last night!
For as much talk as there was that the "Blue Wave" fell flat, I think the above examples are proof that, at a minimum, Democrats have some momentum going. While the outcomes in Texas, Florida, Tennessee, and Georgia amongst others were disappointing, I see SO much hope for 2020 and going forward. I can't even make the Spongebob "Guess what I am! Stupid? No, I'm Texas! What's the difference?!" joke this morning because so much of that state - even Ted Cruz's loyal Evangelists, put party loyalty aside or were otherwise motivated to get to the polls and vote for Beto. What happened in Texas last night was absolutely amazing. Imagine what the Democrats can do in 2020 with the right candidate (as Ayanna Pressley said last night, "its not just good enough to see the Democrats back in power, it matters who those Democrats are")! I am PRAYING that Beto O'Rourke runs for President. I think he would EASILY get the Democratic bid (unless Joe Biden wants to like...change his mind...or something...anyone..please) and with what we saw last night, I think he could win. I genuinely believe Beto O'Rourke has a legitimate shot at denying Trump a second term.
I'm not quite as excited as I was hoping I'd be this morning, but I'm still feeling GREAT going into 2020. Like a lot of people, 2016 was a really tough L for me. It was a hit to a lot of women but, more importantly, it was a hit to significantly more oppressed groups & a real eye-opener to just HOW racist, sexist, and frankly despicable the politics of this country can be. As we've seen, the election really emboldened a lot of peoples' beliefs that maybe before they weren't as comfortable expressing. Its so much more complicated and deeply upsetting than this - people are really REALLY suffering directly at the hands of this Administration - but it was a legitimate morale blow for me. I'd lost faith in a lot of people, lost a lot of faith in our government/entire political system, I've had to periodically remove myself from political discussions because its so upsetting to me, I didn't pursue a job in politics as planned post-grad, I've just felt defeated for a long time. The past two years have felt like blow, after blow, after blow. Last night I had so much faith restored in this country. We watched history be made, career politicians be unseated, Democrats pick-up Republican seats that they weren't anticipated to, states that Trump won by a significant margin elect Democrats - there were A LOT of wins last night. The past few months, I've been feeling a lot better about the newly developing political climate of our country & considering getting back into politics/pursuing a career in the field. Last night at least confirmed for me that I do really believe in America and our ability to turn things around & I will start looking into jobs in politics. Whether its a career shift or just volunteering for a campaign - I will be OUT HERE as 2020 approaches. What we've seen is real momentum on both sides - the Blue Wave and its Conservative response - I will be working tirelessly to ensure that fear-mongernig from the Conservative party doesn't outweigh the Democrats' momentum.
Please feel good about the midterms! I don't think I have many Conservative/Trump-bumpin' supporters on here, but there was good news on both sides last night. Good news for the Democrats - people are motivated, people want change, and we have some really great potential candidates. We took over the House, had a pretty historic night in terms of Republican pick-ups, and 2020 is looking very good for us right now in terms of potential presidential bids. Conservatives, the good news is that Trump is slightly less likely to get impeached than if Dems had won Senate too. There's other good news for you guys, but if you're riding the Trump Country bandwagon, I sincerely don't care about your happiness. Sorry. Go read the real news on reddit or wherever you guys get your information. BaldEagleHoldingAShotGun.com or whatever.
Anyway, Beto 2020.