On the National scene, the Democrat Party has regained control of the House of Representatives for the first time in 12 years. It also appears likely that they will regain control of the Senate, but that has not been confirmed as of this moment. This represents a significant change. Liberals in Congress will not allow Bush’s tax cuts to remain in place. Get ready for your taxes to go up. The President’s judicial nominees will stand no chance unless they are moderate to liberal. The Iraq policy and War on Terror will not be conducted the same way.
Either the President will compromise his principals so that he can get along with the Democrats and pass legislation or there will be gridlock. Gridlock is not always bad, but when it comes to national security issues, social issues, or taxes, gridlock may be very dangerous for the country.
So, why did the Republicans lose so much ground? It wasn’t the economy. Ethics is the first reason. Duncan Hunter, Tom Delay, and Mark Foley were poster children for the "Culture of Corruption" as Democrats called Republicans during the campaign. Many who lost races were guilty by association. The spineless Republican leadership (Hastert) repeatedly swept scandals under the rug, only to see the media and Democrats expose them later and blow them up in their faces right before the election. Another reason, somewhat related to ethics, is that they forgot why they were in office in the first place. What started as a conservative revolution in 1994 turned in to pack of wild spending RINO’s (Republicans in Name Only) by 2006.
Many pundits are trying to blame the President’s Iraq policy and defense policies. I honestly do not think this played as large of a role as many are claiming. How else can you explain why a pro-war Democrat (Lieberman) won and an anti-war Republican (Chafee) lost. Remember most of the new seats that were captured by Democrats were captured by conservative or moderate Democrats such as Jim Webb in Virginia or Tester in Montana. Just enough ‘Values voters’ in many of these races saw more to like in the Democrat candidates.
The problem for the President is that these "blue dog" moderate to conservative Democrats won’t be in positions of leadership. They probably feel as if they owe their election to Pelosi, Kennedy, Biden, Waxman, and other liberals will be calling the shots. Perhaps Republicans will learn that in most of the country, principled conservatism will still win in 2008. In 2006 voters decided that they might find that better in some new moderate Democrats.
3 comments:
I have to differ with you on the reason why this happened. Most of the conservative pundits are saying the Republicans lost because they weren't conservative enough. I'm a populist, so I have no horse in this race, but I don't buy that at all. There are at least two things that I feel led to a Dem victory.
1. Iraq
I think the drumbeat against the war in Iraq has grown steadily over the past two years and it's killing Bush and the GOP. Yes, it was partially driven by the media but it was also driven by Bush's absolute intransigence in dealing with the war in any alternative or adaptive fashion and his inability to admit he needed to change anything. That's why his approval rating was down around O.J. Simpson levels.
Since the election he's been making overtures toward change (dropping Rumsfeld, holding talks with Iraqi faction leaders) but I'm afraid it's too little too late. Iraq is in serious jeopardy, in large part because of Rumsfeld's minimalist approach and Bush's tenuous grasp on Arab culture.
2. Pro-business politics
Both parties have corporate marriages that drive their decision-making and neither side is innocent. But - for right now - the Republicans are making decisions that are NOT based on the interest of the average American but of big business, many of which they have personal ties to.
Economic, immigration, energy, environmental, and even military policy are determined by the bottom line of major corporations. Period. Bush and friends want lax immigration and increased outsourcing of jobs to foreign contractors. As long as the top dogs make money, it matters not what everyone else makes if anything at all.
As I've said on my blog, as a Christian I'm sick of being used by the GOP just because they claim to be pro-life and pro-family. I refuse to keep sending them back just over that (and also having them do little about it) while they're against me in dozens of other ways.
Johnny,
I think the abortion issue is the bottom line for so many Christians, including myself. The pro-choice Republicans were the ones who lost. Pro-life conservatives did ok. I don't care if the candidate is Democrat or Republican, as long as they hold to the values that are consistent with the Bible and the foundations of our country. Few of both parties are!
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