What the People Said
It was a great election for Democrats. Actually, it was a great day for Democracy. The people spoke. Now the pundits are trying to figure out exactly what did the people said to our leaders in Washington.
I don’t think these election results are too difficult to interpret.
What the people said to the GOP: There are others besides you base.
The Republican strategy has been one of polarizing and energizing. It worked for several years. But the GOP alienated their base, disenfranchised their moderates and demonized everyone else. The GOP doing this while at the same time abandoning their principles left them very few allies. The Republicans were not only the Party in power, heck, they were the only Party in town. The saying, absolute power corrupts absolutely is reaffirmed once again.
What the people said to Bush: You stayed the course for too long.
If you riding as a passenger in a bus and the bus driver is in full control, you pretty much let him do the driving. But if ever the driver seems asleep at the wheel, or is driving recklessly, someone is going to grab the steering wheel and the other passengers won’t give a damn if that person has a clue of where the hell the bus is going. They just want someone to stop the bus. This is what happened to Bush. To say Democrats don’t have a plan while driving the Iraq War bus over a cliff is not an effective policy. The people backed the Democrats in stopping the bus. And now that the bus has stopped, we can figure out who is competent enough to drive it and who has the correct road map.
This is really the gist of it. Americans in general are on the conservative side but this election was about change. In a matter of 12 years, Republicans went from the Contract with America and setting the tone for the country to being relegated to a minority Party in the Senate, the House and Governorships. Hopefully, the Democrats understand this and govern properly. I have some suggestions for my Party. I’ll post those later.
10:19 AM Americans in general are on the conservative side but this election was about change.
I don't think you can reduce the winnings of the Democrats to the conservatives voting against the Republicans. What happened is that more Democrats came out and voted and this is what those conservative Democrats will have to remember. They can be voted out. No one wants or respect a Republican want-a-be.
11:30 AM As a conservative I have definitely felt disenfranchised by my party, I wonder just how many registered Republicans feel the same way and, like me, decided NOT to vote the party line.
Republicans will villify me as a "turn coat" for this, but I have said before, I am loyal to no one except God and family and my party has proven NOT to be loyal to what interests me socially or fiscally.
1:32 PM Cythia,
I think the problem that most Republicans make is what it means to be conservative. When I say Americans are rather conservative, I don't mean politically. I should also note that most Americans have a liberal streak as well.
I happen to be a little conservative on many things but my base philosophy is liberal. And I have no shame in claiming my liberal leanings.
3:05 PM I agree. The GOP DID alienate its base. They had no idea whatsoever to do with the Power they acquired -- including Iraq.
Americans want to win. And they want to win soon. That goes back to the number of troops in Iraq and that goes back to Rumsfeld.
As my high school civics teacher said years ago: "Democrats don't win elections, Republicans lose them."
So true.
BZ
8:30 PM Bullfrog,
You are on the money. The Republicans seemed like Democrats from the last 4 years. Cynthia, it was not conservatives voting against the Republicans- you are correct- it was conservatives not voting at all in alot of cases. It's like I have said many times before concerning conservatives- we believe if you govern like a Democrat, we will let the Democrats govern.
Later'
9:44 PM Hey, I'm waiting for your humor post on your call to the President for our next mission :-). I could really use it right now.
12:15 AM Good post Jay we now will see what the Democrats can do with the power they have.
Chance
8:25 AM Good observations. Dems must realize that winning the majority in both houses is not the end game. Dems must realize that Americans voted for change not necessarily for liberal ideals. And Dems must realize that being voted into office is coming with a whole lot of huge expectations to turn the tide of this war, deficit and many of the other problems left in the wake of this incompetent leadership. Meeting the publics expectations will be critical to sustaining momentum into the '08 presidential elections.
12:57 PM woodrow,
You are right. I expect them to govern properly. As far as I am concerned, I have faith in them but I will hold them accountable for their actions.
It will get ugly in 2008 however. It will get very ugly.
5:20 PM Well James, I kind of agree. There are a few things I truly believe were stated in this election.
1. When you put America second and power first, you will be unemployed.
2. Our lack of border security and illegal immigration woes played a big part in the "base" voting against or not voting at all.
3. Iraq issue was a deciding factor in some Moderate liberals, and the Dem's played the "Change" card without saying anything about what change.
4. Most of the country experienced a shift to the right, except for a few issues that passed like the Anti-Abortion in SD and a few other states, most candidates were centerist's on the Dem's side, while the Rep's offered so called Conservatives that have proven to be far less than that.
IMO, the Dem's hold the best hand now, as long as they don't go too far left, they have an opportunity to do some good things.
If they stray to far left, look for a new crew at the unemployment office in 08.
One thing I have to say and it might not set well with some is:
Isn't it refreshing to not hear "Stolen election" "Fraud charges" or any other B.S. about why the Rep's are out?
The Dem's could learn a lesson or two about how to handle America's voice. If in 08 the election goes against the Dem's, Lets remember how it should be done.
8:16 AM I am late to the party but I will comment anyway.
First of all the Dems can't go too far left because the slim majority they have is based upon Democrats elected from Republican leaning districts. So the Dems won't be able to pass anything without their help and those legislators are going to be looking to be re-elected.
All the Dems have to do is perform proper oversight of the executive branch and stick with legislation that addresses fiscal policy and avoid like the plague any legislation that deals with abortion or gay marriage.
BW,Iraq Bush is already changing course. He threw Rummy under the bus and appointed a man who served on the Baker-Hamilton Iraq Study Group Commision as Rummy's replacement.
Some Republicans are pissed at Bush for not getting rid of Rumsfeld earlier and they believe that if Bush had fired Rumsfeld before the election that Republicans could have retain some of their seats in Congress.
I just heard on the tv that Baker wants to talk to Iran's ambassador. So Bush has awakened to the fact that military might is not going to solve the Iraq quagmire.
Also the Democrats have already proposed re-organizing the military in the Iraq but since they didn't control either house of Congress no one paid attention not even the press.
J, I do think that 2008 is going to be a bloodbath but the chaos will be isolated to the Republicans. The Democrats are going to want to win the White House so badly that we will coalese around a compromise candidate not the ideal candidate.
However this election re-energized the Republican moderates and if Guiliani gets into the race expect the 2008 Republican convention to resemble the 1968 Democratic Chicago convention.
11:13 PM I hate to say it, but I think Roderick has some valid points about BOTH parties sliding towards the middle. What die hard Republican wouldn't vote for Guiliani, who is not a conservatives conservative by any means, just to avoid putting ANY Democrat in office? The thought of him representing my interests, scary.
7:59 AM BF, maybe I should have explained myself better.
There has always been a split between the moderate Republicans and the evangelical Republicans.
I think in this elections a small percentage of each stayed home and/or voted for the Democrats.
In 2004 the moderate Republicans held their noses and voted for W hoping he he wouldn't cater to the social conservatives but he did.
Now the social conservatives are pissed because they know that -thanks to David Kuo's book "Tempting Faith"- Republicans in general and the Bush White House specifically either holds them in contempt or makes fun of them.
The proof is there. The Republicans even when they had a 10 seat margin in the Senate didn't breathe a word about a constitutional amendment outlawing abortion because it would have been a politcal disaster for them for decades.
Republicans have been manipulating social conservatives in presidential elections by saying that by voting Republican it would ensure that more anti-choice judges would be seated on the Supreme Court. But look what has happened. Seven of the nine Supreme Court justices are Republican appointees yet Roe v Wade is still legal although it has been weaken some.
I think that the social conservatives began seeing the light when the Foley scandal was exposed. And now some right wing wackos like Tony Perkins want the GOP to purge all of the gay staffers on Capitol Hill. My, my, my the stories I bet those gay staffers could tell about their bosses.
Ironically, Republicans elected a closted gay governor to replace Bush in Florida and Texas re-elected a bisexual governor whose wife caught him in bed with another man a couple of years ago.
Also, I have read some interesting posts by Republicans blaming the GOP's hard right stance on abortion and gay marriage for the loss last Tuesday but it won't be anything when compared to the fight between the moderate Republicans and the social conservatives for the soul of the party in 2008.
8:49 AM I just think it's an awful situation for the democrats.
In my opinion, they aren't going to be getting that much done in the next two years and it could cost them the white house (barack, clinton?) in 2008.
If they had nearly won a majority, they could claim that they were "this close" and built momentum.
I think the American people will have a shorter lease now.