What Mattered This Week?

Europe, again, especially Italy and Greece.

Ah, we had an election, too! Or, more properly, lots of elections, many of which mattered a lot to the people whose lives will be directly affected by the results. I'd be very cautious, however, about extrapolating at all. It was a good day for the Democrats (although hardly a landslide; the Dems did well at a few high-profile elections and ballot questions, but there was a lot of status quo elsewhere). But it probably means just about zero for 2012.

And the continuing troubles in Syria and Yemen shouldn't be forgotten, either.

So, what do you think mattered this week?

Feeling Patriotic

Time for my standard Election Day post, edited to bring it up to date.

I do love Election Day.

And it's a good one, lots of great stories. We have a big labor vs. Tea Party story in Issue 2 in Ohio, we have a couple of gubernatorials, some state legislatures, and some really obscure stuff -- including what may be a record number of recall elections (with two state legislative ones in Arizona and Michigan the -- relatively -- big news).

You know, most of my academic work and interests are all about how small a portion of democracy is occupied by today -- I think democracy is found in the complex workings of elites within party networks, and in Congressional committee rooms, and in interactions within issue networks, and in White House showdowns between the president and a reluctant Senator...all those things, to me, at an intellectual level, are democracy just as much as today's events. But nothing beats the rituals of Election Day. Hey, I even like the annoying and useless "What Does It All Mean" stories, as long as I can restrict my intake enough. I love watching the spin. I love the weather stories, and the cheesy shots of the candidates voting, and the oh-so-careful anchors not revealing what they all know from the exit polls (I miss the leaked exit polls, which made you feel like an insider if you heard them and a goof when they turned out to be phony. I'm one of those people who could easily do without the National Anthem, and the Pledge doesn't do much for me -- and I really dislike the Selig-imposed 7th inning GBA. But then today comes around, and I know that I'm a very patriotic citizen of the USA.

So, Happy Election Day, everyone! Vote early, vote often!