Autopsy Report
Forward Article to a Friend
Print Article
The Miami Herald reported that Hugo Chavez was celebrating. The Associated Press indicated that Israelis feared the consequences. The New York Post proclaimed that Al Qaeda was happy. Reuters indicated that our allies were embarrassed. European and Middle Eastern presses gloated on their editorial pages. Comedian Stephen Colbert declared, in a live broadcast, that the terrorists had won.
Yes, sufficient time has passed for Republicans to start talking about what happened – and presumably recover from a drawn-out hangover. We had strayed from the path to success. I had hoped, prayed, for a bruising. We got, in the words of our President, “a thumping.”
Optimists have already proclaimed that the results of the midterm elections in 2006 were a “good thing.” They are anything but. Majorities are very hard to win back, particularly in the House of Representatives. To be blunt, this was a disaster for the G.O.P.. But then again, this was never going to be a good year for the Party and probably could never have ended well.
The legislative leadership, aided in part by executive power, failed its constituency. In the four years we’ve had control of Congress and the White House, we’ve not accomplished nearly as much as we could have. But, there is a gem in the rough here. This election was hardly realignment. Liberalism did not triumph.
The people who won against Republican incumbents in the elections were non-liberals. Bob Casey of Pennsylvania is pro-life. Jim Webb of Virginia served Ronald Reagan as Secretary of the Navy. Claire McCaskill of Missouri continuously stressed her admiration for Harry S Truman – hardly the dovish Democrat that defines the party’s mainstream today. Jon Tester of Montana is a farmhand in the Heartland, sharing hardly any values with California’s Barbara Boxer. And these are only the Senate races. A Los Angeles Times article that appeared prior to the voting indicated that Democratic insurgencies in the House reflected the same pattern, and often took place in districts that saw their Republican representatives ousted in the course of last year—Tom DeLay, for example—but will likely vote G.O.P. in the future. In fact, most of the Democrats who did win won by very small margins – a tribute to the G.O.P.’s outstanding get-out-the-vote effort.
All of this means that 2006 was a pyrrhic victory for the Democrats. Freshmen Blue Dog Democrats are going to be forced to make a decision: toe the party line or strike an independent chord. By nature of the legislative bodies, freshmen really don’t get power in either house: The chairmanships of various committees will be going to old guards of the Left. If moderate candidates become liberal legislators, they won’t have a job for very long. On the other hand, if freshmen do maintain the independence they continuously harped upon during the campaign, there’s hardly a point to having a majority party at all.
In the Senate, the situation will be particularly interesting to watch. Defeated Republicans are going to be compelled to unite and have elected a fairly good group into the Minority Leadership. Democrats, led by scandal-ridden and pro-life Harry Reid, are going to have a tough time uniting on “progressive” issues – particularly with a very slim majority built on both freshmen and people like newly liberated Joe Lieberman (who has not ruled out caucusing with the Republicans if the Democrats become a bunch of peaceniks on security issues).
In the House, one can already witness tension developing. Nancy Pelosi, certainly from the Democratic wing of the Democratic Party, attempted to force through her choice for Majority Leader, Jack Murtha, at the last minute. Murtha had announced rather late in the game that he would seek the position, and has himself been plagued with ethical issues (he barely escaped conviction years ago in an FBI bribery sting when he uttered the following reply to an offer: “I’m not interested … at this point”). Instead of complying, however, Democrats handed Pelosi a substantial defeat by electing moderate Steny Hoyer, who has earned Pelosi’s wrath in years past. The question now is: Can they get their act together?
Hopefully, not. But the Republican Party can’t sit idle while the Democrats are House-sitting for us. Unfortunately, the House G.O.P. is not organizing all that well, quizzically blaming the leaders they have now re-elected for their difficulties. If we want to win, there are a few key concepts we must understand: We need to restore fiscal responsibility to our party and continue the successful economic reforms for which we’ve fought for years. We need to restore confidence in our troops overseas, but also in our Party’s stance as the best defender of our nation. We need to reach out to Latino voters, whose support for us decreased during this voting period. Finally, we need to recognize that 2008 has just become even more significant than it already was. Whichever party takes the presidency will also take the Senate. We need a visionary – someone like Mitt Romney.
Releasing a statement after the election, Romney said “Americans spoke last night and Republicans are listening. Americans have not become less conservative, but they believe some Republicans have.” Continuing, the Governor remarked “We didn’t hear a mandate for a more liberal direction because the Democrats didn’t present one. Americans don’t share those liberal ideas.” He’s calling for just what our nation needs: a “return to the common sense Reagan Republican ideals of fighting for hardworking Americans, lowering taxes, shrinking government, curbing out-of-control spending, promoting the traditional values of faith, family and freedom, and providing a strong national security with all the necessary tools to protect the American people and win the War on Terror.” The Governor is right on the money in terms of what we need to do to win in the next election and beyond. Mitt is it in 2008!
