Happy Days
The Election is over and the remaining two years of the Bush Administration will now be subject to oversight and restraint.
This was a referendum on the Republican performance of the past six years: with Bush, Iraq, incompetence, corruption, and Rove’s “the base is all that matters” political strategy proving to be the Republican’s undoing. It is a harsh slap in the face of the President or more accurately a kick in the groin. The country has finally woken up from its deep sleep and recognized that the far right has led us astray; that Iraq was not justified; that we are not safer because of Bush policies, and that the Republicans forgot that the US was constructed on compromise and bi-partisan common ground.
And to add to the good tidings – the first woman Speaker of the House; the defeat of the draconian South Dakota anti-abortion amendment; the passage of the Missouri stem cell amendment; the dismissal of Rumsfeld; and Rick Santorum and George Allen down the tubes. Unfortunately, John Doolittle prevailed.
Apparently a majority did not believe the President when he claimed that "The Democrat approach in Iraq comes down to this: The terrorists win and America loses." They evidently concluded the opposite. Now Bush is saying he will work with the Democrats. Will that prove to be true or will it be just another one of those statements he makes for public consumption and forgets the moment it is uttered, like his avowal last week that Rumsfeld would remain to the end of his term. It took him less than 24 hours after the election to discard that position made so forcibly to the public. Rove may have known what was really about to happen in this election, but George seems to be surprised.
While it is nice to see Rumsfeld paying the price for arrogance and incompetence, sacrificing him does not exonerate Bush’s responsibility for the mess we are in.
This Republican defeat was even larger than it appears, as it occurred despite gerrymandered districts, big bucks from business, and the advantages of incumbency. Not one Democrat running for re-election was defeated! Now with a large majority of Democratic Governors, maybe the Democrats can try some Texas-like redistricting.
While the euphoria of the moment is pleasurable, the Democrats are now involved in the governance of the country and if the 2008 election is not to become a Republican success, they need to do more than stand by and let the Republicans implode. It is clear that the independents and moderates voted strongly for Democratic candidates and keeping them in the fold requires not repeating Republican errors. The Rove base theory has been disproved but the Democrats can’t allow the far left to take the place of the far right. Many of the newly elected Democrats are moderates and Pelosi is going to have to figure out how to reach consensus within her party before looking for common ground with Bush and the Republicans.
The Democratic base won’t like it but the country needs to be governed from the middle and Bush needs to be tested with legislation that appeals to the center. If he acquiesces, we can claim credit for the accomplishment. If the Republicans prevent passage or Bush vetoes legislation, we can claim obstruction. Either way, a record of responsible action within the mainstream becomes a mantra for the next election.
This was a referendum on the Republican performance of the past six years: with Bush, Iraq, incompetence, corruption, and Rove’s “the base is all that matters” political strategy proving to be the Republican’s undoing. It is a harsh slap in the face of the President or more accurately a kick in the groin. The country has finally woken up from its deep sleep and recognized that the far right has led us astray; that Iraq was not justified; that we are not safer because of Bush policies, and that the Republicans forgot that the US was constructed on compromise and bi-partisan common ground.
And to add to the good tidings – the first woman Speaker of the House; the defeat of the draconian South Dakota anti-abortion amendment; the passage of the Missouri stem cell amendment; the dismissal of Rumsfeld; and Rick Santorum and George Allen down the tubes. Unfortunately, John Doolittle prevailed.
Apparently a majority did not believe the President when he claimed that "The Democrat approach in Iraq comes down to this: The terrorists win and America loses." They evidently concluded the opposite. Now Bush is saying he will work with the Democrats. Will that prove to be true or will it be just another one of those statements he makes for public consumption and forgets the moment it is uttered, like his avowal last week that Rumsfeld would remain to the end of his term. It took him less than 24 hours after the election to discard that position made so forcibly to the public. Rove may have known what was really about to happen in this election, but George seems to be surprised.
While it is nice to see Rumsfeld paying the price for arrogance and incompetence, sacrificing him does not exonerate Bush’s responsibility for the mess we are in.
This Republican defeat was even larger than it appears, as it occurred despite gerrymandered districts, big bucks from business, and the advantages of incumbency. Not one Democrat running for re-election was defeated! Now with a large majority of Democratic Governors, maybe the Democrats can try some Texas-like redistricting.
While the euphoria of the moment is pleasurable, the Democrats are now involved in the governance of the country and if the 2008 election is not to become a Republican success, they need to do more than stand by and let the Republicans implode. It is clear that the independents and moderates voted strongly for Democratic candidates and keeping them in the fold requires not repeating Republican errors. The Rove base theory has been disproved but the Democrats can’t allow the far left to take the place of the far right. Many of the newly elected Democrats are moderates and Pelosi is going to have to figure out how to reach consensus within her party before looking for common ground with Bush and the Republicans.
The Democratic base won’t like it but the country needs to be governed from the middle and Bush needs to be tested with legislation that appeals to the center. If he acquiesces, we can claim credit for the accomplishment. If the Republicans prevent passage or Bush vetoes legislation, we can claim obstruction. Either way, a record of responsible action within the mainstream becomes a mantra for the next election.
posted by John Weiss at 1:42 PM
1 Comments:
Great blog! Thanks for taking the time to write well-reasoned comments.
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