Minorities, independent women, gays, working-class white voters, and younger people overcame through high turnout a fierce social conservative block.

November 8, 2012 |

Tuesday's election will be regarded as a pivotal one in US history. For 30 years the top 1 percent has manipulated the masses to vote against their own interests. It was able to do that because the feelings of the white middle and lower classes about social issues overwhelmed their economic considerations.

But something interesting happened this year: high levels of minority and young voter turnout, together with an increased Obama-tilt among all voters earning less than $50,000 a year, routed the GOP.

Consider what happened in California on Tuesday. Against the usual moneyed interests, the state passed Proposition 30, so for the first time that California was able to get past the intense financial lobbying that usually occurs during these referenda. Instead, it followed the advice of Governor Jerry Brown and passed a tax increase to increase funding for public education. Remember, California used to have the best public school system in the country until it was gutted by Prop 13. And that too was a harbinger of what was to follow.

Even better news is that the Democrats won super majorities in both houses of the California legislature. If this holds, which it seems to be doing, the Republicans can no longer keep the state in dysfunction with a one-third-plus-one vote. And California almost always points the way to the future.