When it was clear on Election Day that Democrats had lost the House of Representatives, John Boehner took the stage as the Republican House Majority Leader. He wallowed in the GOP victory, claiming that America’s voice had been heard and the message to President Obama is to “change course.”

A disillusioned Democratic base could probably say the same thing to the President but for a different reason. It was clear weeks out from the election that the enthusiasm of Democratic voters lagged way behind their Republican counterparts. The Democratic Party just doesn’t seem to understand that the further you move away from your platform and delivery of promises, the further your base moves away from you.

The young, the independents, the liberals, gays, working class people of color—these sectors made up the army who believed in the hope and change Candidate Obama articulated during his journey to the White House. Obama and the Democrats capitulation to the right helped to de-mobilize his supporters leaving a void for the conservative votes to fill. This proved to be an emotional advantage in a number of tight races.

Most Democrats moved even further from the platform and the base during the mid-term cycle, distancing themselves from President Obama and the gains made in the first two years of the “change” administration. Obama is said to have the highest legislative success rate than any president in the last 50 years. The message and their thunder were hi-jacked by extremists in the Republican/Tea Parties.

Communicating its message has been one of the great failures of the Obama administration. I assumed they had a crackerjack team of media experts who could help frame and control the message but my colleagues in the Progressive Communicators Network could’ve done a better job for far less the pay.

As backward and extreme as they are can be, the GOP’s strength is staying on message and not breaking ranks. They have said No in unison for everything that President Obama put on the table even if they were the original creators of the proposed legislation. A good example of this is the legislation that would have given small businesses loans and tax breaks, legislation that Republicans like Senator George LeMieux helped to draft. Draftees or not, if it means giving the President and the Democrats a victory, the GOP says NO! The GOP is so badd that they can filibuster a bill like the energy bill and then blame Dems for not passing the bill.

The Republicans are on a roll with their oppositional strategy, filibustering in epic proportions. There’s a truckload of legislation and appointments being held hostage by the Republicans. The Democrats could have changed the filibuster rules when they had the votes to do so but they have been confused about what to do with their new-found power. Before they figure it out, they truly won’t have the votes they need to pass anything. The Dems have squandered most of the political capital we gave them in the 2008 election.

With the taking of the House, the GOP is singing a new song called The American People have Spoken and the spineless Democrats are humming the background vocals with heads hanging down. The Dems act like they don’t know any better--that no election captures all of the sentiment of the people. While the Democratic Party is talking compromise, the GOP says their priority is to make Obama a one-term president. The repeal of the weak health care bill is top on their agenda.

President Obama said he got a “shellacking” and that he got the American people’s message. Already he’s ready to make the wealthy more rich by making sure the Bush tax cuts stay in place.

The mid-term elections will mean some ugly changes for Americans who are not in the top five percent. With a US Supreme Court ruling behind them (Citizens United), the Wall Street gang is on a roll. We should brace ourselves for a deeper recession and attempts to cut spending may mean cutting services and programs for the poor and the working class.

In the months ahead, there should be fierce public debate about the role of government and who will control it. We must organize to wrestle the backward, rightwing forces to the ground. We must expose the pass the corporate class is about to receive from Congress. Our organizing must take place between elections not just at election time.

Like Dr. Martin Luther King, I don't know what will happen now but one thing is for sure—it is no time to sit on our butts. It’s time to organize against corporate domination and to put in place a winning strategy for the masses who will be the big losers if the Boehners of the world get their way.

BlackCommentator.com Editorial Board member Jamala Rogers is the leader of theOrganization for Black Struggle in St. Louis and the Black Radical Congress National Organizer. Click here to contact Ms. Rogers.