Yesterday’s results should put an end to the idea that voting never solves anything. Ohio voters roundly rejected Governor Kasich’s union-busting law, Mississippi voters said no to that state’s “personhood” amendment, and the architect of Arizona’s “papers please” immigration law was successfully recalled. Maine voters chose to keep same-day voting registration, and Kentucky reelected a Democratic governor.

The tea tide has engendered a backlash — what the LA Times is calling “a pause in (the) conservative trend.” This new wave can still gain momentum and end the age of austerity in American government next November. It is time to stop playing defense against right-wing legislation and start crafting an offensive strategy in the fifty states.