Posted by
Lisa on Wednesday, November 08, 2006 2:46:48 PM
short and sweet recap at this point in the game: democrats win the
house, senate still undecided, shepard smith is yelling at somebody for
some reason.
this was a defeat for republicans, not for conservatism. the
american people didn't give the democrats a mandate for higher taxes,
possible impeachment hearings, more moderate judges, amnesty for
illegals, or a policy closer to surrender in the war in iraq. they
simply believed that the republicans had not met their expectations, so
they decided to give the democrats an opportunity to do a better job
governing. i just hope that we won't be sorry that this choice was made.
philip klein:
We will hear a lot of reasons for why Republicans lost
this year. We will hear that they lost because of an unpopular war, an
unpopular president, a culture of corruption, a traditional
anti-incumbent six-year itch and a dispirited base. But one thing is
for sure. Republicans did not lose on a platform of limiting the size
and scope of government.
Just as this election wasn't a defeat for conservatism, it wasn't a
victory for liberalism. Democrats intentionally avoided a publicized
"Contract With America"-style platform advancing a progressive agenda
in favor of making the campaign a referendum on President Bush. The
closest thing they had to a platform,
"A New Direction for America," was not a sweeping ideological document,
but a laundry list of initiatives such as making college tuition
tax-deductible, raising the minimum wage, and negotiating drug prices.
Though a Democratic majority will likely roll back President Bush's tax
cuts, they didn't advertise that in the "fiscal discipline" section of
their platform. (It is a testament to how enamored Republicans became
with big government that they enabled Democrats to run as the party of
fiscal discipline.)
it is what it is. the democrats now control congress. the
republicans need to learn that they don't ever have a blank check from
their base to abuse the trust they were given on issues that we care
deeply about. i voted for republicans this time, because i thought that
the bigger picture (terrorism, iraq) was more important than our
concerns about spending and illegal immigration. (i also wasn't
convinced that the democrats would be an improvement in these areas.)
we can't go to canada. there are few conservative havens in the
world. so we need to stay engaged...now more than ever. we can't give
up fighting for what we believe, because the stakes are too high. keep
calling. keep writing and emailing your representatives, no matter what
their party affliation is. keep your eyes open.
tags: 2006 election, republicans, conservatives