I know there has been some debunking of the What's the Matter With Kansas thesis (that working class American's get "tricked" into not voting their economic interests), but the current moment is, as Tom Frank might say, Baffling: huge swathes of working class, middle class, and impoverished Americans are being pummeled by an economic downturn of epic proportions.   Unemployment is ruining lives, and permanently lowering the lifetime prospects of those entering the work force.  And the situation is projected to stagnate or worsen for years to come. And yet there is no uproar over the likely reconfirmation of Ben Bernanke.

For not awful reasons, our institutions entrust an astonishing amount of the power to do something, anything about the situation in the hands of a single man.  Half of this man's job description is to maintain full employment (his other duty, keeping inflation under control, is taking care of itself and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future).  Unfortunately, in this case that man is a Bush appointee, and Bernanke not only refuses to do anything about unemployment himself, he tells Congress -- the only other body with any real power to do anything about the economic situation (via fiscal stimulus)-- a bunch of what Brad Delong calls "bullshit" so as to make it politically difficult for them to act. 

Now if you are anyone who has been hit at all hard by this recession, it is massively in your interest that this guy either be forced to do so something about unemployment, or get replaced by someone who does.  Unfortunately, part of what makes him so powerful is that he usually can't be replaced or forced to do much of anything. 

But once every blue moon this most powerful individual has to come before Congress to ask to keep his job.  It's popular government's one chance to correct the course.  And the stakes are huge.  For millions of Americans, perhaps a majority of us, even a slight adjustment in Fed policy could have enormous positive, long-term impact.  So you might think that (1) Bernake's reconfirmation hearings would be a big deal, (2) the masses would be opposed to reconfirmation, and that therefore (3) there would be some political opportunity -- for Congresspeople, for the President, etc-- to publicly question Bernanke's policies, force a shift to a more employment-focused approach, and win a populist victory.

Instead, he's Man of the Year.  What's the matter with America?

 In the grand scheme of things, I suppose, Obama's victory is still the biggest surprise.  But I went into last night expecting it.  What I wasn't expecting is that people would spontaneously come together and -- no other word for it -- party down.  The street celebrations last night were, honestly, like nothing I've ever seen in this country.

 I watched Obama's acceptance speech in downtown Oakland, at a BBQ joint that was literally packed with people, mostly African-Americans, of every imaginable age. I'm at a loss to describe the feeling of redemption and joy in the room when CNN called the election, and the overpowering emotion of the acceptance speech.  let me just say that Obama's speeches were meant to be heard with a roomful of viewers doing call and response!

  Afterward, the party seemed to crescendo: people didn't realize how happy they were going to be, and it just fed off itself.  The streets were alive with people celebrating, dancing, hugging, waving, whistling, and -- this is the crazy part -- it was like we were all friends.  You just said the magic word "Obama!" and total strangers would light up, return your salute, welcome you into their mini-celebrations. 

  That is not the usual vibe one gets in downtown Oakland.

  Later, in Berkeley, where the cops usually keep a tight rein on the students, the streets were so packed with people that cars couldn't pass for blocks.  The cops, amazingly, hung back, calm, while the kids shouted, crowd-surfed, waved American flags. Had this been a football game, there would have been drunkenness, rowdiness, and idiocy.  By contrast, this was a wild celebration, but one that was responsible and respectful.  People were proud of who we are, and what we'd just done.  I kept thinking, "these kids just voted for the first time!"

    Spontaneous celebrations all around the country: that is the biggest surprise.  It should remind us of something: elections are not just about candidates, they are about electorates.  What I am describing is sociological, but ultimately it's as important as anything we usually think of as political.  Our last collective moment was 9/11; the dominant emotions were fear, anger, and grief.  Moment wasted.  Last night, we got another chance.

  For years I've harbored a pet theory of the Latin Americanization of US Politics: stealing elections (with the help of your brother the Governor), crony capitalism, appointing incompetent loyalists, sabre rattling (a Chilean invention!), massive foreign debt and currency devaluation, etc.  The wrench in my theory was that Latin America was changing: elections got cleaner, the left became a disciplined, viable electoral force, old patterns of clientelism and corruption broke down.  The bellweathers were the election of Vincente Fox in Mexico, in 2000, and Lula in Brazil, in 2002.  I witnessed both those elections, and what struck me -- besides the fact that they vote on the weekend, what a concept! -- was that when the results were announced, the people erupted in celebration.  Cars honked, drums beat, fireworks fired, plazas overflowed with the overjoyed.  It had the spontoneity and bonhomie of Carnaval and the sense of triumph of a World Cup victory party, and then something else too that I'd never seen before.  These were not partisan celebrations; people were not happy simply because their horse won.  Something deeper had happened.  "Thank you Lula," wrote a Brazilian editorialist, summing up a people's decades of cynicism about Brazil's less than uplifting return to democracy, "For giving us back Hope".   I remember thinking that it was simply unimagineable that Americans would ever celebrate any president's election that way.

  Yesterday I was proved wrong. 

    (Or right: now the Latin Americanization of American politics comes full circle!)

    My wife, a native of Rio de Janeiro, put it best.  After living in the US for 2 years, constantly disappointed by our parties, parades, street fairs, and every other American attempt at collective "fun" (which, she's right, are less fun than 5 minutes of Carnaval), she responded to the crowds last night "Tonight I understood for the first time that Americans do have a soul.  They have just been sad for 8 years."

   Try 30.