“The problems we set out to address will not be solved overnight but make no mistake, the people of this city have chosen a progressive path,”
— NYC Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio 11/5/14
Following the lead of the people of Los Angeles who elected a progressive Mayor in Eric Garcetti just six months ago, the people of New York handed Bill de Blasio a landslide.
Knocking a giant hole in the media’s contention that Democrats won’t vote in a midterm or off-off year election, in race after race, not just the Democrats – but the PROGRESSIVE Democrats scored victories.
From de Blasio in NY to Boston’s new Mayor-elect Martin Walsh who beat out a not-very-progressive Democrat (John Connoly), we’re seeing a very welcome trend.
The city of Portland, Maine voted to legalize marijuana for adults over 21 for recreational use – making it the first on the east coast to take such a step. The city of Miami Beach, Florida voted overwhelmingly to approve medical marijuana. And the people of Colorado, who were the first in the nation to legalize marijuana for recreational use, yesterday approved taxes on pot sold in retail outlets that will begin opening in January!
Marriage equality won in Illinios and, although NJ screwed up by re-electing Chris Christie as governor, they approved a raise in the minimum wage. In Washington state, although the people unwisely voted against requiring labels on GMO foods, the city of Sea-Tac approved a living wage ordinance which raises the minimum wage to $15 an hour!
And the state of Virginia, in a true lesser of two evils battle, elected Terry McAuliffe as governor, prompting a huge sigh of relief from the state that is now, once again, for lovers.
If you wonder just what a progressive platform is all about, Congressman Alan Grayson laid it out for us recently:
Susie Madrak gave her take on the election results at Crooks and Liars, and joined me this morning to celebrate a bit too.
In the second hour we came crashing back down to reality as Americablog‘s Gaius Publius filled us in on the latest from Fukushima. After reading his piece, check out this roundup of news about the dire situation there.
And if you need more, watch this:
