If Democrats don’t mess up, both short and long term look good

Cross-posted at Vox Verax.

A revolution? Not quite. But the first paragraph of an editorial from a southeastern Minnesota newspaper chain speaks volumes about the change that has overcome the American electorate, at least as represented by a small-town newspaper publisher in a chiefly rural area in the upper Midwest.

more inside…David Phillips of the Bluff Country Newspaper Group writes:

The voters’ mandate for change reached all the way down to the bottom of the state as Democrats made strong inroads within Minnesota and the nation. When January rolls around, it will be the first time that I have been represented by DFL members in the state House and Senate since I moved here 25 years ago. For many people living in this area, it will be the first time they have ever been represented by DFL party members in both chambers in the state as well as the U.S. House of Representatives all at the same time.

That’s the microcosm, which offers an inkling of the future in a traditionally conservative district. But the macrocosm as well speaks of the possibility of a new long-term trend. Generally, if nothing else, Americans are (a) trusting and (b) wary of change. This is why they have tended to believe their leaders in the White House and Congress when they have insisted that (a) the war in Iraq is going fine, (b) big deficits don’t matter, (c) one-party rule is the best way to govern, (d) government is the enemy of the people, and (e) global warming does not exist