The 2014 election is shaping up to look a lot like the 2010 election and the GOP is likely to take control of the Senate as well as maintain hold of the House of Representatives. If you remember back to before the 2010 election many were saying that the GOP was in such disarray, that there was no way for them to gain power in the election. And then they did in a big way. Is that going to repeat this year? Nate Silver seems to think so, and his election predictions have been scarily accurate for the past few election cycles.

Silver gave Republicans a 60 percent chance of wresting the Senate out of Harry Reid’s hands—a big blow to the final two years of the Obama presidency.

I think this is because of a few problems:

1. The Democrats lack real leadership. It isn’t that their ideas as way off the mark, but rather, as a while they act more like a herd of cats than a unified party seeking a platform. Dems can pull out a win in a Presidential election year, because the Presidential candidate can serve as a de facto Party Leader. But this is a fallacious idea when you recognize that there are three branches of government and the President heads only one of them. For Democrats to win in 2014, there nerds to be a harmonious message coming from the Party that confronts the GOP’s messages. I have some fear it may be too late to try and find that leadership, but I haven’t given up hope.
2. The Democrats are so focused on the next Presidential election that they fail to focus on the actual election ahead go them. The GOP can be accused of the same but a host of factors like election laws and gerrymandered districts give the GOP an advantage, so in spite of this the GOP is likely to win anyway.
3. Turnout is one of the most crucial ways that real, average citizens can impact an election, and the Democrats do very little to actually get the vote out. This is related back to point #1.

LGBTQ Advocates and activists newer fro stop and evaluate what a GOP Senate and House will mean for the next two years. How will it impact the movement of any LGBTQ supportive legislation? How will it impede the nominations of any LGBTQ supportive appointees within any governmental position, and most importantly, how will it shift the battle field for the 2016 election?

LGBTQ Advocates need to stop celebrating judicial wins for Marriage Equality, and remember that same-sex marriage is just one of a number of agendas we need to see action upon. As a group, we fail to see the whole LGBTQ Rights when we are too focused on Marriage alone. Even issues that we don’t naturally classify as LGBTQ must become more of a priority. Stifling Education initiatives for example, are ways that the GOP furthers their own agenda and harms queer youth.

Since we can’t count on the Democratic Party to make sure we win in 2014, votes have to start now to try and keep the GOP from winning.