Election Reaction
The votes are all in, and pretty much all tabulated. It looks as if the Democrats have taken the House of Representatives and the Senate. Here is my reaction.
I am a Republican, because the ideals of the Republican party are the ideals that I subscribe to. The Republican party, which is to say, the politicians who have an R next to their name, and the high ranking leadership in the party, deserved to lose this election; that's not what I wanted, of course, but that's what they deserved. The Republicans have had a majority for a decade, and they picked up seats in both houses of Congress in 2004, and they have absolutely wasted it. They've squandered their mandate, and now all of us are going to have to pay for it.
I'm not a fairweather conservative like Lee, and I know that the values of Republicans and conservatives go beyond national defense and limited government. The Republican party was given a mandate in 2004, and in several elections previous, and between 2004 and 2006 they wasted their time and allowed themselves to be owned politically by such lunatic Democrats as Senators Barbara Boxer, Dianne Feinstein, Hillary Clinton, John Kerry, Ted Kennedy, and Harry Reid; Representatives Nancy Pelosi, John Murtha, and Charlie Rangel; and washed up political hacks like former Vice President Al Gore, former Senator John Edwards, and former President Bill Clinton. Think for a second - can you name five major Republican Senators or Representatives? The only reason I can is that I pay a little attention to politics (which most Americans don't).
What are a few things that were expected of Republicans with such unprecedented control of Congress? Here are a few that I was hoping for:
A balanced budget that eliminated billions of dollars in wasteful spending
Legitimate energy reform, including drilling in ANWR
Solid political backup for President Bush on the Iraq War
Consistently better rhetoric to counter the misleading statements of their political opponents
A higher standard of integrity
And what did we get instead over the last two years?
Increased spending on worthless programs, including no Social Security reform
A backward energy bill that extends daylight saving time, instead of allowing drilling in ANWR
A full-on Democratic win in the political propaganda war about Iraq, and Republicans abandoning President Bush for a political win that obviously hasn't materialized
Consistently inferior (or non-existent) rhetoric that has completely failed to set the record straight on misleading or false Democratic statements
Scandals: Mark Foley, Randall Cunningham, Jack Abramoff
Look at the damage, ladies and gentlemen. Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld has resigned, and I'd bet real money that he wouldn't have done so if the Republicans had held Congress. Senator Santorum is out. Nancy Pelosi is setting the agenda in the House of Representatives, and Senator Reid is setting the agenda in Senate. Even assuming that Republicans can win the Congress back in 2008, there's no telling what kind of damage (and I mean damage) the Democrats can do to our national security and economy in the next two years.
So, now that we understand how colossal a defeat this is, and how it was the Republicans' race to lose, let's look at what we do in the interim. Even a force that starts out at a disadvantage can retake the initiative and make a comeback.
First, the Republican leadership needs to pull their collective head out. The scandals need to stop; our party needs to be above reproach, and scandals like Duke Cunningham, Mark Foley, and the Jack Abramoff thing are completely unacceptable. All elected officials who affiliate themselves with the Republican party need to be read the riot act, and any with skeletons in their closet need to be cleaned out.
Second, Republicans need to get good at playing the media game, and they need to do it immediately. There are two sides to this: one is getting the Republican message out, and the other is getting the Democratic message out. What do I mean by this? I mean playing the media game that Republican leaders have been ignoring and losing; yes, the liberal media makes it an uphill battle, but even an uphill battle can be won. Republicans need to communicate their agenda and its benefits to moderates, centrists, and the conservative base: stronger national defense, lower taxes, less government waste, and nationwide moral accountability. On the flipside, they need to communicate how out of control the Democratic party's agenda is: higher taxes, weaker national defense, submission to international pressure. Nancy Pelosi is going to be the House Majority Leader, which can be a public relations nightmare for the Democrats, if Republican leaders ensure that everything outrageous and off-the-charts statement she makes is broadcast to the American public.
Third, and most importantly, the Republican party needs to start being accountable to the conservative base. That means focusing on the conservative agenda: moral accountability, fiscal accountability, strong national defense. I did not vote for Republican leaders in 2004 to watch them squander political capital on Teri Schiavo; I didn't vote Republican in 2004 to watch them burn political capital on an anti-flag burning amendment (let hippies and traitors show themselves to be ridiculous, immature, and anti-American), or the Defense of Marriage Act (which should be an issue decided by each individual state). Conservative voters banded together in 2004 to give the Republican party a win so that they could work toward the conservative agenda in Congress, and the Republican party sold the Republican voters out by selling out. The leaders of the Republican party got exactly thirty pieces of silver out of the deal.
I'm not going to sugar coat this. I am honestly worried about what kind of damage a Democrat-controlled Congress can do in only two years. I am honestly not surprised that an intept, incompetent, and laxadaisical Republican party put us in this situation. I also honestly believe that with Democrats like those listed above in power, this can turn itself into a Republican advantage in 2008 and 2010. However, there is no margin for error, and this should serve as nothing short of a wake up call, a red alert, and a political air raid siren all wrapped up into one for the Republican leadership.
Alright, I'm going to go to bed now. Unlike the Congress, some of us have to get up early tomorrow morning to support those who are out their protecting our freedom and national security.
I am a Republican, because the ideals of the Republican party are the ideals that I subscribe to. The Republican party, which is to say, the politicians who have an R next to their name, and the high ranking leadership in the party, deserved to lose this election; that's not what I wanted, of course, but that's what they deserved. The Republicans have had a majority for a decade, and they picked up seats in both houses of Congress in 2004, and they have absolutely wasted it. They've squandered their mandate, and now all of us are going to have to pay for it.
I'm not a fairweather conservative like Lee, and I know that the values of Republicans and conservatives go beyond national defense and limited government. The Republican party was given a mandate in 2004, and in several elections previous, and between 2004 and 2006 they wasted their time and allowed themselves to be owned politically by such lunatic Democrats as Senators Barbara Boxer, Dianne Feinstein, Hillary Clinton, John Kerry, Ted Kennedy, and Harry Reid; Representatives Nancy Pelosi, John Murtha, and Charlie Rangel; and washed up political hacks like former Vice President Al Gore, former Senator John Edwards, and former President Bill Clinton. Think for a second - can you name five major Republican Senators or Representatives? The only reason I can is that I pay a little attention to politics (which most Americans don't).
What are a few things that were expected of Republicans with such unprecedented control of Congress? Here are a few that I was hoping for:
And what did we get instead over the last two years?
Look at the damage, ladies and gentlemen. Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld has resigned, and I'd bet real money that he wouldn't have done so if the Republicans had held Congress. Senator Santorum is out. Nancy Pelosi is setting the agenda in the House of Representatives, and Senator Reid is setting the agenda in Senate. Even assuming that Republicans can win the Congress back in 2008, there's no telling what kind of damage (and I mean damage) the Democrats can do to our national security and economy in the next two years.
So, now that we understand how colossal a defeat this is, and how it was the Republicans' race to lose, let's look at what we do in the interim. Even a force that starts out at a disadvantage can retake the initiative and make a comeback.
First, the Republican leadership needs to pull their collective head out. The scandals need to stop; our party needs to be above reproach, and scandals like Duke Cunningham, Mark Foley, and the Jack Abramoff thing are completely unacceptable. All elected officials who affiliate themselves with the Republican party need to be read the riot act, and any with skeletons in their closet need to be cleaned out.
Second, Republicans need to get good at playing the media game, and they need to do it immediately. There are two sides to this: one is getting the Republican message out, and the other is getting the Democratic message out. What do I mean by this? I mean playing the media game that Republican leaders have been ignoring and losing; yes, the liberal media makes it an uphill battle, but even an uphill battle can be won. Republicans need to communicate their agenda and its benefits to moderates, centrists, and the conservative base: stronger national defense, lower taxes, less government waste, and nationwide moral accountability. On the flipside, they need to communicate how out of control the Democratic party's agenda is: higher taxes, weaker national defense, submission to international pressure. Nancy Pelosi is going to be the House Majority Leader, which can be a public relations nightmare for the Democrats, if Republican leaders ensure that everything outrageous and off-the-charts statement she makes is broadcast to the American public.
Third, and most importantly, the Republican party needs to start being accountable to the conservative base. That means focusing on the conservative agenda: moral accountability, fiscal accountability, strong national defense. I did not vote for Republican leaders in 2004 to watch them squander political capital on Teri Schiavo; I didn't vote Republican in 2004 to watch them burn political capital on an anti-flag burning amendment (let hippies and traitors show themselves to be ridiculous, immature, and anti-American), or the Defense of Marriage Act (which should be an issue decided by each individual state). Conservative voters banded together in 2004 to give the Republican party a win so that they could work toward the conservative agenda in Congress, and the Republican party sold the Republican voters out by selling out. The leaders of the Republican party got exactly thirty pieces of silver out of the deal.
I'm not going to sugar coat this. I am honestly worried about what kind of damage a Democrat-controlled Congress can do in only two years. I am honestly not surprised that an intept, incompetent, and laxadaisical Republican party put us in this situation. I also honestly believe that with Democrats like those listed above in power, this can turn itself into a Republican advantage in 2008 and 2010. However, there is no margin for error, and this should serve as nothing short of a wake up call, a red alert, and a political air raid siren all wrapped up into one for the Republican leadership.
Alright, I'm going to go to bed now. Unlike the Congress, some of us have to get up early tomorrow morning to support those who are out their protecting our freedom and national security.
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