This New York Times excerpt should scare the hell out of you:
Dr. Robert Bentley, an Alabama state legislator little known until he won the right to the runoff in the June 1 primary election, received 56 percent of the vote, with nearly all precincts reporting, compared to 44 percent of the votes won by his opponent Bradley Byrne, a lawyer and former college chancellor who had the support of Gov. Bob Riley, former and current Republican congressmen and area business groups.
He promised fiscal conservatism and Christian values, but struggled in fund-raising, receiving $621,000 in contributions compared with Mr. Byrne’s $2 million. An outside group named the True Republican PAC also ran advertisements questioning whether Mr. Byrne believed the entire Bible is literally true (he says he does) and whether he opposes teaching creationism in public schools (he says he supports it).
Why should this development terrify you? Because Obama’s falling poll numbers, the high unemployment rate and midterm elections – which usually benefit the party out of power – means that ever-radicalizing Republicans have a shot of taking over at least one house of Congress.
Even scarier is the voters’ apparent willingness to choose political novices or alleged “outsiders” with radical agendas. An alarming number of voters seem so desperate to change the country that they may be willing to try anything – even if that means electing nutjobs like Sharron Angle in Nevada. This emerging trend would not only be disastrous for America, but a potential setback for LGBT equality.
Sure, Alabama does not reflect the nation. And, maybe choosing extremists in the primaries might help catapult reasonable candidates into office in the general election. However, races, such as this one, hold out the grim possibility that angry voters and a volatile electorate may lurch towards the margins in November.
Keep an eye on this developing situation.
Wayne, some good news from my state of Nevada.. latest polls show Harry Reid now ahead of Sharon Angle by 4 points, amongst women Harry is up by 16 points!
Though much less severe, this is reminiscent of 1920s Germany.
Gary (NJ) wrote, “Though much less severe, this is reminiscent of 1920s Germany.”
I think so too. Just last week my partner and I watched the six-episode BBC documentary, “The Nazis: A Warning from History,” so that is all fresh in my mind. While I don’t think we will ever have a majority to take us there, clearly there are millions of people in the U.S. who are headed in that direction. The United States is certainly much more diverse and otherwise different from the Germany of the 1920′s, but still, it’s scary to contemplate the social upheaval that could result from a confluence of extraordinary events/conditions.