2010 has been one of those years that I suspect, when we look back on it, will make even less sense than it made at the time. Obama and congressional Democrats pushed through some remarkable progressive successes – healthcare reform, financial reform, and the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell among the main ones – and then almost immediately lost the House to Republicans, and very nearly the Senate as well. Obama turned his back on his own party and signed a massive tax deal with GOP leadership. And the Tea Party became even more ingrained in the American conscience despite poor showings at the polls.
Indeed Tea Party candidate, Joe Miller, lost in historical fashion to Republican Lisa Murkowski who won as a write-in candidate. Meanwhile, Obama expanded the security-state powers of the previous administration by implementing invasive pat-downs and naked body-scanners in major airports, and granting the TSA new powers. Christine O’Donnell, another Tea Party favorite, went down to devestating defeat against her Democratic opponent. But other conservative darlings faired much better. In Florida, rising Republican star Marco Rubio defeated Florida governor and former Republican Charlie Crist for that state’s senate seat. Chris Christie and Mitch Daniels have made waves in their respective states, New Jersey and Indiana, as no-nonsense fiscal conservatives intent on balancing budgets badly out of whack after the recession.
