Political Hurricane Hits...BIG TIME!

For those of you who have clicked on my profile, you know that I am a Legislative Liaison (translate: lobbyist).

No, no, no, trust me (and yes, you can) I am not one of those high powered, highly paid consultants you hear about. Heck, just check out my tax returns and you'll see what I mean...LOL!

Quite simply, I am a public servant who, as my occupation, does governmental relations work on behalf of the state agency for which I am employed.

As you can imagine, I have been knee deep in election stuff since yesterday and as it turned out, it was a very late night for me watching and keeping up with election returns for our state.

Thank goodness at this stage/age, Colton is well into dream land for at least 7 hours when we put him down for bed at night or I definitely would have been dragging even more than I already am.

Needless to say it has been a busy, busy day here at the office - - the day after the general election.

Long story short...Alabama (as well as the nation) faced a once-in-a-generation political hurricane...and it hit big time if you were on the Democratic ticket.

As you know, the mood of the electorate around our country has been one of anger, change and frustration for quite some time now.

We are experiencing perhaps the worst economy since the Great Depression. We are faced with having to deal with a national health care plan that most people don’t want and don’t understand. And, we have been dealing with many incumbents who have been around for far too long, with far too much baggage.

Voters voiced their disdain for those who are currently in charge and for those who have been in charge for way too long.

The message that was being sent (very loud and clear) was that a win in this election cycle was going to be almost insurmountable for any Democratic statewide, legislative or congressional candidate.

Of course, the mood was intensified (here in this state especially) due to the rising unpopularity of President Obama, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, and the United States Congress in general.

So what happened???

Our entire state (in fact ALL statewide offices, but for one) went to Republicans.

As far as the legislature goes, well Alabama has not seen Republican control of the House and Senate for 136 years...until yesterday.

Lots and lots of upsets.

In my opinion, some are good, some are bad.

Let me just say that although I tend to vote Republican, my "all-around-the-ticket" voting habits would prove to be confusing to many if not most people…LOL!

No matter what, I have ALWAYS voted for the person (not the party) I align with/agree with/like the most. Sometimes that’s a Republican and sometimes that’s a Democrat.

Having said that, neither Republicans, nor Democrats for that matter have all the answers or solutions just because at any given time they are in charge and/or are "popular" for one election cycle compared to another.

Now more than ever I feel certain that people (myself included) will hold ALL of their elected officials accountable for the things they do/don't do and I think it's high time we forget about titles and party lines and fix the crap that is hurting us all as a nation as well as here in my state.

I guess only time will tell what the implications of yesterday’s results are and in the meantime I'll have the next 4 years to deal with this new batch of legislators and find out.

The elections are over...now there's work to be done. Let's see what happens.

And as for me?

Well, let's just say that I've got a bunch of brand new names to learn before I stomp on over to our state Capitol come this next legislative session...LOL!

God Bless Us All!