I hate to say I told you so, but...

I totally did.

Blue Sandbags

Have you ever watched footage of a tsunami? For someone like me with a fear of drowning, it’s pretty terrifying. The inexorable and unstoppable encroachment of water on land, across earth, asphalt, whatever surface, taking cars and even houses with it.

This was the year I stopped getting pulled into every piece of political coverage and into every political conversation happening around me. I long ago stopped watching cable news. I recognize what makes my blood pressure rise, and hearing circular, speculative, fear-mongering political coverage is certainly on that list. Yes, I’m someone who yells at my TV if I don’t curate my own media consumption diet with a pretty heavy hand. Removing myself from the 24/7 news cycle has long been good for my mental health, but it’s also good for my perspective.

For whatever reason (cough cough, money, cough) the news media is very motivated to keep us outraged and to make us think that some new useful piece of information is just two minutes away, even as they repeat the same narratives endlessly. The result is a lot of people getting riled up, with negative emotions mostly.

Now, historical data matters. It’s absolutely true that historical data would lead you to believe that the 2022 midterms would be bad for Democrats. People tend to have an aversion to one-party rule. People tend to take their frustrations out on the guy (because it’s always been a guy lest we forget) at the top of the food chain, especially if he’s new. The first midterms after their election were disastrous for Clinton, Obama, and Trump, for example. And the reason they weren’t for Bush II is because those first midterms came one year post-9/11 when we were newly at war and still capable of pulling together as a nation, including for a cause that was errantly justified and ended up being the definition of a fool’s journey.

But times haven’t been normal since 2016. The Blue Wave in 2018, which could have been expected, was part of a series of ongoing wins for the Democratic Party in 2018, 2020, and in a variety of telling special elections and one-offs to this day.

I like to say that the right knows how to coalesce in a public-facing way, including voting, but they fracture when it comes to using their power. The left, on the other hand, is a little too invested in being the underdog, in being “the resistance.” Give the big-tent left some wins, and they will spend eternity nit-picking all the reasons the wins weren’t bigger. Oh, let me guess, was it “messaging?” Meanwhile, behind the scenes in the halls of power, the left has been pretty good at staying on message and in lockstep, especially under Speaker Pelosi’s rule.

Combine the historical data with the left’s hangdog refusal to coalesce around the power that has been attained, the overall mood leading up to the midterms was one of inevitable Democratic Party failure and a massive Red Wave. The punditocracy were more than happy to spin endless cycles talking about exactly how bad it was going to be. Meanwhile I recorded more than one podcast episode this year saying, you know, it doesn’t have to be that bad. And I don’t think it will be that bad. And it’s a turn out game and there are #moreofus, and so on. I have always called this phenomenon of doom and gloom propagation “voter depression.” And I’ve long pointed out that it’s as critical to GOP electoral efforts as voter suppression is.

So the Red Wave ended up being, well, a bit of a bust. The Dems piled up enough sandbags to keep back the water. Those sandbags were filled mostly with GenZ voters, with pro-choice voters, and with enough-is-enough pro-democracy voters. Voters who know that abortion IS an economic issue. And that protecting our democracy IS a safety issue.

Were there disappointments? YES. Are there a couple more disappointments that might come? For sure. Some of those disappointments represent the ends of certain fantasies for me (and others)…this year I had already stopped pouring money into candidates I love who had no realistic shot. Do some of them have no shot for reasons I abhor, not just policy disagreements? Sure. Some of those disappointments are because, yes, sometimes the Dems nominate people they think can bridge divides, but are instead people who embody the cliche that familiarity breeds contempt.

All to say: Even with all of that, I had faith that the outcome didn’t have to be disaster. That it wasn’t inevitable, and some other smart folks agreed with me.

Change is challenging, progress is not promised, and we must withstand the work that must continue.

But I’d like to close with a hopeful note, paraphrasing one of my favorite writers and thinkers, Anand Ghiridharadas. The work is hard because no country has really tried to do what the US has historically tried to do: To build a country out of the whole world. Yes, we take steps forward and then steps back, and sometimes it’s hard to tell which kind of steps we’re taking more of.

But keep filling those sandbags to hold back those who would sweep us out to sea. Keep protecting our hard-won rights and fighting to achieve (or regain) the rights we do not yet have. As Samwise Gamgee would say: The good in our world is worth fighting for.

And if that isn’t enough of a mix of metaphors and references for you, I am not sure I can do more!

How are you feeling, the day after?

Coming this week

One thing to share, because the timing is tight: If you’re an individual or company working to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion, I have an award program for you. My company The Cru is presenting a new category at the SXSW Innovation Awards, the Innovation at Work category. Submit by next week and have the chance to have your work amplified at SXSW, still one of the biggest stages across many industries. The submission form with criteria etc. is here. PS: If you have any trouble getting your application submitted online or on time, please reach out, I’m here to help you celebrate your work!

As always, I’d love if you left a comment and let me know your thoughts on all of the above. This is basically my blog now! I’d appreciate a share of this newsletter or my podcast. And check out my LinkedIn Learning Course, Telling Stories That Stick, a 57-minute course on crafting your stories for different audiences (media, investors, prospects, hiring managers) and making sure those stories stick…and convey exactly what you hope to convey.