We’re not getting Obama on the ballot until Malia is ready

2012 was extraordinarily important election because it decided whether ObamaCare would be maimed before it could even go into effect. However, whether the law gets funded and properly will be a constant question because of an election too many Americans just skipped—2010.

Republicans got about 500,000 fewer votes for the House of Representatives than Democrats but they kept their huge majority and they’ll likely keep it until 2020 for one reason: Republicans came out in massive numbers in 2010. This gave them the power to gerrymander districts so they can’t lose—creating an electoral map that virtually guarantees Republican control of the House for a decade.

Slate’s Dave Weigel points out that the President won Pennsylvania by 5 percent, but Republicans still held 8 of the 13 congressional seats.

This means the president will never fully be able to implement his agenda—unless 2014 turns out to be an even bigger landslide for Democrats. It also means the only people that most of the Republicans in the House ever have to answer to will be primary voters.

Todd Akin, for instance, couldn’t win a Senate seat but he was elected to the House ten times. So what we’ll see if Republicans dare to compromise are even more extreme candidates coming out of contested primaries.

In Michigan, Democrats picked up 5 seats in the state House but, with only 4,000 more votes, the House would be tied 55-55.

The margins in 2014 will be tiny compared to 2012 and the GOP knows that the few groups they haven’t alienated—white people in their 50s, 60s AND 70s—are the ones that are most likely to show up at the polls. And while Citizens United and outside didn’t affect this election much, dark money groups like Americans For Prosperity dominated in 2010.

OFA is likely going away. Unless we start organizing now with a positive agenda—public option, anyone?—we’re guaranteeing that Republicans will dominate state and local politics in most states while being encouraged to obstruct the president every chance they get.

If we let that happen, what have we won?