The unsung lesson of this past election, a rejection of the two party system.

One of the unnoticed, or at least unremarked results of our recent election is this: more people simply dropped out of voting for either of the two big parties. Obama's vote total was 60.5 million, down from 69.5 million four years ago. Romney's vote total was 57.5 million, about 2.5 million short of McCain's '08 total. In fact in state after state fewer people voted for either of the two big parties than in '08. Some on the right side of the spectrum went Libertarian, but the simple fact is, more people simply stayed home. Voter turnout nationwide came in at 57.5%, down from the previous two elections.

This is really a shocker. If you look back, incumbent presidents running for reelection usually get more votes the second time around. The Bushboy got 12 million more votes in '04 than in '00. Clinton received 2.5 million more votes in '96 than in '92. Reagan increased his votes by 10.5 million between '80 and '84. Hell, FDR, the last president who had to run for reelection with high unemployment numbers received 5 million more votes in '36 than in '32, a twenty percent increase.

What does this say about the electorate? I think the message is pretty clear, a lot of the people in this country simply didn't find either candidate acceptable. The biggest question is why? A small sliver of these people stayed home out of religious reasons, refusing to vote for a Mormon, and certainly not going to vote for Obama. But survey after survey has shown that the vast majority of non-voters are on the left, liberals, people who should, at least nominally, be part of the Democratic big tent. But instead, they're staying home.

This says volumes about the Democratic party, none of it good. For the past four years one of the biggest, and perhaps most valid, overarching criticism of Obama was that despite being a Democrat, despite running as a liberal in the Senate, when Obama governed as president, he did so from a center right position, extending tax cuts, continuing wars, expanding the assault on our civil liberties, etc. A lot of people figured why should they vote for a center right candidate from either party.

The question now becomes what is going to happen in the future. The Democratic party can't afford to continue to hemorrhage voters, for despite the downturn in Republican fortunes, we all know that they're not going to stay down. So perhaps the party should stop dismissing and insulting those on the left, and start rewarding them instead. Push through truly liberal legislation, start governing from a position that is at least center left, if not exactly liberal.

If not, then more and more people are going to stay home. Or perhaps we'll see the rise of other parties on both the right and left. The Libertarian party just had its best showing ever. The Greens are still around and viable. Despite the deliberate rigging of our electoral process to favor only the big two, if enough people get disgusted with politics as is, those barriers could be overcome.

So while it is obvious that the 'Pugs have some soul searching of their own to do, the Democratic also needs to engage in some serious soul searching as well. If they don't, then more and more of their natural constituency will drift away, or simply stay home.

Something to think about.