with a few notable exceptions we've essentially wiped out the republicans here in new england. in connecticut for instance we still have a republican govenor - but the house and senate now have enough democrats to give us a veto-proof majority and we're getting more - republican reps have quit their party to join ours, so the govenor's signature is really a formality, but as a moderate we are happy to work with her.
the times has an
indepth look at the new england situation in today's paper.
in spite of ct, nationally we now have more govenors than the republicans do, and that means we can set agendas at the govenor's conventions, appoint chairs, send delegations to the white house etc. it's mostly symbolic, but it's important nevertheless.
locally however, even tho we picked up seats in '05, the republicans outnumber us 2 to 1 on the council, and they have the mayorship, so they just ignore us. there is zero dialog. they simply dictate terms and couldn't care less about our constituent's needs. they out-vote us at every level and they exercise that power dictatorially every day in every way, from hires to agendas. they won't work with us or even consider small amendments, let alone pass an actual ordinance of ours. needless to say, the community is tired, even angry with this behaviour. next year when we have our local elections (odd years), things are expected to change, with the republicans losing more seats, if not their present majority, and perhaps the mayor's office as well.
it's an interesting time to be a democrat.
- js.