A New Era

So, it looks as though both the House and Senate will have a Democratic majority, the first time in my memory. It's an exciting time (for liberals at least). However, I can't help but wonder if things will really change or get any better under the new regime. I feel like in many cases liberals have compromised their values in order to win back Congress and restore their power. But to what end? If we have Democrats who are anti-abortionists (like Bob Casey) or other representatives who are out of step with the majority of liberal thinkers on social, political, or economic issues, will we just have a Republican/conservative Congress in Democratic clothing?

Another problem I see probably just stems from my upbringing in a conservative-Republican household. I grew up believing that liberals were basically feckless, caring more for their media appearance than the interests of the American people. I guess time will tell if my dad was right, but to some extent, if it is true, will it be the product of having a more "moderate"/conservative democratic majority or just the intrinsic nature of Democrats?

Personally I don't like the two-party system that we have. It pigeon-holes people into one category or another, and if they belong to a minority party they are basically voiceless. (I'm not a fan of pigeon-holing in any way). How can complex people with complex and often opposing values be almost forced to support a party or a candidate that they don't believe in because he or she is the best option in comparison to the other?

One more bit about the election. I'm not sure how many people paid attention to the ballot initiatives that were voted on, since the Senate and House elections were so important, but in about seven states, give or take, amendments banning same-sex marriage were passed. Ironically, Arizona was the only state with a same-sex marriage ban on the ballot where it was defeated. In every other state it passed with large majorities. It's frightening to think that in a few years our country could be further divided along the basis of same-sex marriage. Yet another case where religion muddles government: marriage in the legal sense of the word means nothing more than a union of bank accounts and some rights gained, essentially (granted, I could be speaking out of my ass). However, we have forced legal marriages to encompass a larger definition that includes religious tradition, which is not in keeping with the principle of separation of church and state that our forefathers believed in and the Constitution upholds. Clearly high school US history classes are not doing their jobs, and not just in this case either....