Hibernating after the election (by Suzie)

bleeding hearts can march and shout

and call for revolution

i'm stepping off, i'm dropping out

i just want to have some big fun ...

going to sleep city like everybody else

going to sleep city and you can go to hell

-- Vicki Randle, "Sleep City"

Randle is tongue in cheek on the title song of her CD. (I couldn't find a decent video, but you can listen to a clip here, and then buy the CD and encourage her to put out another.)

Part of the point of this song ... was a plea to the astonishing number of people I've encountered who say, "I don't pay any attention to politics, they're all the same. I'm just looking out for myself. "

I played the CD over and over after the election. I understand the desire to give up, after Republicans swept my state. They won all the statewide races, and they increased their majority in the Florida legislature. A tea-party candidate captured a U.S. Senate seat. But the loss that hit me the hardest was the governorship. Alex Sink lost by a single percentage point to millionaire Rick Scott, who spent $73 million of his own money. From the Miami Herald:

Scott, who barely met the seven-year residency requirement for governor, built the nation's largest hospital empire, Columbia/HCA, but was forced out as CEO when the federal government launched an investigation that led to historic fines for Medicare fraud.

For more on the fraud case, see this article in the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel. Scott also founded and funded a group that attacked Obama's health-care reform last year. He has been called "the mastermind of town hall riots."

All the major newspapers in Florida, including conservative ones, endorsed Sink. (I mentioned her in a post last month.) I especially liked the Orlando Sentinel's editorial. Apparently, this wasn't enough to awaken dormant Democrats or independents who sleepwalked to the polls.