"Elections have consequences"...
And, no, I'm not directing this at those who sat out 2016, although it certainly applies to them as well. No, I'm talking about the Democrats who sat out 2010 and 2014. Remember those years? Particularly, in 2010, when I saw lots of voices even here and at DailyKos trumpeting that they weren't going to vote in the midterms, to "send a message" to Obama that he had disappointed them by a) not getting a public option in the ACA, b) not fully withdrawing our troops from Afghanistan, or c) some other combination of "not done enough." Well, it sure sent one hell of a message: in 2010, it gave the House to the Republicans, meaning that the best we could hope for in future was gridlock; in 2014, most crucially, it gave them the Senate as well. If we had turned out in reasonable numbers in those years, and particularly in 2014, we would almost certainly had a Democratic Senate, and so, even if Trump had managed to win in 2016, he would have been facing a Democratic roadblock to filling what will turn out to be 1/3 of the SCOTUS with representatives of the Talibornagain, and would have either had to accept leaving those seats unfilled or else compromise and name moderates to those vacancies.
So a reminder: from now on (if it isn't already too late), we have to turn out every f***in' election. Not just when the White House is at stake, and not just when we are out of power and trying to get it back. If Biden wins this time around (and is allowed to assume office, which may now be very much in question), we have to prepare to put the exact same degree of effort in come 2022, for whichever Senate, House, and local elections our Party is facing. And no staying home and cutting off our noses to spite our face, just because whoever is in charge hasn't accomplished everything we wanted him/her to do. Because we've seen, in 2010, 2014, and 2016, what happens when we abdicate that responsibility.
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