“Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss.” — The Who, “Won’t Get Fooled Again”
Last week there was an event. Like, something happened.
It was an election. An election whereby lots of liberal-minded folks replaced a lot of conservative-minded folks.
Texas in particular had some sort of resurgence in liberalism, electing Gina Hinojosa as governor, Vikki Goodwin as lieutenant governor, Nathan Johnson as AG, Sarah Eckhardt as comptroller, Benjamin Flores as head of the GLO and Clayton Tucker as Ag commissioner, among other.
Federally, Democrat James Talarico won over Ken Paxton in the Senate race in Texas, echoing results that happened across the country.
So, that happened. Most importantly, that happened as it was supposed to. Not like manifest destiny or anything, but people went to the polls and voted like they should. Well, at least half of the voters did; latest numbers show the turnout in the state was 51.6 percent, which is a bit more than normal, especially for a midterm election.
What didn’t happen last week is pretty telling, too.
For instance, there was no rioting after the results, as there was when President Trump was elected. None of the Democrat candidates were targeted in assassination attempts. Election workers weren’t harassed or threatened.
At most, there was quite a bit of moping, but for many, c’est la vie.
So, what comes next?
Let’s hope that the warning delivered by Joseph de Maistre, “The government you elect is the government you deserve,” doesn’t become a curse.
To those you elected, you got the votes you needed; that was the easy part. Now comes the hard part, and that is governing.
I’m not talking about answering to your demographic, or pandering to your backers, or placating those who voted for you, but everybody that lives in your area of influence. Governors, senators, that means the whole state, not just the blue parts. That means crafting policy that benefits Texas residents, U.S. citizens, the whole enchilada.
(Sometimes that means not doing something, even though that goes against the grain of every elected official. Not every problem requires a government to ride to the rescue.)
Hopefully, you’ll be able to do it cleanly, without a myriad of roadblocks erected for each and every decision and policy plan. Hopefully, you won’t have to fight a lawsuit every time you propose a plan, or sign an executive order, or hold a hearing. Hopefully, there won’t be mobs of people carrying signs and hurling epithets and other things outside of the halls of government.
I say hopefully, but it already seems that the only thing that will matter is the ideology, not the people you represent. For instance, Hinojosa has already made noise about changing the state’s policy regarding cooperation with ICE, as in not, which is a signal that illegal immigrants will get more consideration from the state than the residents will.
Still, you have an opportunity to be the kind of representatives that the people deserve, while ending the rancorous nature that has kept this country at a standstill.
Everyone that cast votes, bravo.
Tony Farkas is editor of the Trinity County News-Standard and the San Jacinto News-Times. He can be reached at tony@polkcountypublishing.com.
