Even if we win, this is not a victory.

[TygrBright]

It is an accomplishment, it's worthy of note and some celebration.

But it's not a victory.

Victory is the ultimate goal and when it is achieved we can hoist a brew and get 36 hours' uninterrupted sleep and then go back to living our lives with whatever our new normal will be.

Today is not going to give us that, and if we make the mistake of taking it, we will be back here in another 8, maybe 12 years, if we last that long.

If we win, what today is, is an OPPORTUNITY.

Another chance.

A crack to hammer a wedge into.

We can begin cleanup and repair, and make no mistake, it will be neither quick nor easy. It will be a harder and longer and more painful slog than this spasmodic upheaval to shove the poisoned spike out of the wound.

Because even when the spike is gone, the poison will still be in our system. The poison of distrust, disunity, greed and fear.

Russia is not going to suddenly quit trying to undermine our ability to function as a nation. Nor is any other foreign state that sees a strong, united, democratic America as a threat to their own authoritarian kleptomania.

Americans are better at immediate, short-term, superhuman spasms of effort than we are at long-term, sustained, focused, shoulder-to-the-wheel collaborative action. That's not to say we're incapable of the latter- we HAVE done it before. And we can learn from those experiences.

But the simple truth is this: As soon as we stop trying, those who would divide us regain old ground and make new gains.

As soon as we stop trying, the backlash comes for us.

So no, if we win today, it is not a victory.

But it is a damn' good start, IF we can keep going.

somberly,
Bright

[Cirque du So-What]

1. It's a step on the road to recovery

I never deluded myself by believing it would be an outright victory.

[ibegurpard]

2. Truth

As always you are insightful.

[Sucha NastyWoman]

3. I disagree

It’s a victory if we win. Too many people put too much into this for it not to be, and we deserve to celebrate it.

But it’s not ultimate victory. Were not done yet.

[dubyadiprecession]

19. I agree.

Trump never earned a popular vote mandate, but still went on to do many disastrous things, like being enabled by his corrupt party leadership in naming Supreme Court justices, that he shouldn’t have.
Let’s pack that fucking court!!!

[Dave Starsky]

4. It's the landing at Omaha Beach.

There is a big fight after that, but we HAVE to win big today in order to even have a chance.

[TygrBright]

8. Good analogy! n/t

[beachbumbob]

5. a historic landslide is the definition of VICTORY

everything else is going to take hard work and years to fix

[stopbush]

6. Semantics. It's a victory, and not a small one.

You might as well aver that winning an NFL game is only an opportunity, while winning the Super Bowl is a victory.

[uponit7771]

7. The harder part will comes in the 3 months post election

[maxsolomon]

9. There's battles, and there's the War.

This will be a huge battle victory.

The War isn't over, and it may never be over.

[BSdetect]

10. If aholes like moscow mitch dare to ask for bipartizan working relations slap his face

figuratively, of course.

[lapfog_1]

11. We will win the House, the Senate, and the Presidency

but we need to "win" the courts... district, circuit, and Supreme.

and then work on the States too until there are no or almost no "Red" states.

ban Fox and OAN and Sinclair and deprogram the MAGAts... We can't have 30 percent of this nation believing Qanon.

It took 40 years to get here... it will likely take 40 years to get back to a sense of a normal functioning country.

[Rollo]

12. Oh, fuck it. When Biden is announced the winner and Trump concedes...

I'm celebrating!!!

So sue me.

[Mme. Defarge]

13. It will be a massive victory for US and the world.

Imo. 🇺🇸🥂🇺🇸🥂🇺🇸🥂🇺🇸🥂🇺🇸

[frazzled]

14. For a sustained win, we must maintain party unity

And I am not so optimistic about that. Once the urgent need to remove Trump at any cost is over, I worry that there will be a significant group that will be impatient for immediate and far reaching changes that are not entirely possible to achieve, especially when there is an economy and a pandemic to fix first.

And when goals are not met right away, we will begin to see the party infighting all over again. And that could lead to yet another change of power in four years.

Patience people, patience. We can’t change the world overnight.

[TygrBright]

16. This, yep. n/t

[LakeArenal]

15. No way. Stop killing this buzz.

No one says this is the end.

Still a HAAAA——UGE VICTORY.

Too many have sacrificed and fought for this day. How many huge losses in life and Democracy have we had to reach this day to call this anything but.

[czarjak]

17. Take our country back...

INDEED

[obamanut2012]

18. It is a HUGE victory

JFC can we stop this and embrace we are defeating a FASCIST government this week??? That a coalition from all across the political spectrum have lined up behind the vanguard of Biden-Harris???

Why not proclaim this as the victory it is? Why shrug and be like OH WELL.

[genxlib]

20. This statement is too optimistic

"...we will be back here in another 8, maybe 12 years, if we last that long."

If we don't stay diligent, we will be back here in 2 years fighting for Congress and 4 years desperately trying to hang on to the Presidency.

The next 2 years will be tough sledding. Renewing an overdue crackdown on COVID in an already seriously damaged economy will make the next two years hard. Anyone with a pulse knows the stock market is unreasonably high and it is destined to fall when it becomes obvious that this is not a short term problem. And we will have to do it with a broken government that needs time to be put back together.

I know it is popular to write off the GOP but they are like Freddy Krueger and keep coming back. Likewise, the voting public is fickle and loves to go back to the party after we have fixed things.

[TygrBright]

22. Very much THIS. n/t

[lame54]

21. It's a correction

[Buckeye_Democrat]

23. I'm voting in every mid-term for now on.

Yes, I've been one of those people who was "too busy" or forgetful during some past mid-terms, but never again!

This change is the result of Trump and his GOP fascists.

[peggysue2]

24. Absolutely true!

Winning today's election is the beginning, not the end. We've been given a wakeup call and cannot squander it.

This will be a slog, a long road to repair, restore and reform. Americans need to be patient, supportive and willing to harness today's energy moving forward. Voting today needs to be repeated for all special elections, off-year elections, everywhere and anytime elections.

Our vote is our voice. Our activism, continued involvement and staying informed is our club. All vestiges of Trumpism need to be removed, stomped, obliterated. That's not going to happen in a single election.

As Franklin purportedly said: 'It's a Republic, ma'm. If you can keep it.'

Now we've had a taste of what that truly meant.

This is not a one day enterprise. Not even close.

[stillcool]

25. call it what you want...

I just want to win. The next few months, at least, will be like the last 4 years, maybe worse. Especially with Covid out of control, and white males in trucks out of control. So Jeeze Louise please, if it does happen, let me say it however I want.

[Rollo]

26. This is what I'll be doing...

[Towlie]

27. I agree, even if we've dodged a bullet that doesn't mean we're bulletproof.

If an evil idiot can do that much damage, think what an evil genius could do.