There is no doubt that I was disappointed about the election results. The conservatives I supported did pretty poorly. The ballot measures in my state went against my vote more than with my vote. It might be enough to make this optimist a little down. But, I’m not.
I’m still optimistic that the political landscape in this country is moving toward me and not away. The evidence is in how the Democrats cobbled together their wins. It was not based on a cohesive plan for the country. It was not based on an honest debate about their core values. It was based, largely, on distraction and favorable coverage from the old media.
There are several things that make me think the Democrats aren’t sitting as pretty as they’d like you to think. For example, many of the newly elected Democrats ran as conservatives. They spoke of their faith and how strongly they felt about family values. NRO had a great example of that here. I have hope that it will be more difficult for the old-school liberals to have their way with these folks as part of a very thin majority.
Speaking of those old-school libs, they are still there. While they may have a tougher time than they think, that won’t prevent them from trying. It’s the things that people like Schumer, Durbin, Waxman, Murtha, Conyers, and Rangel will try that will embarrass them. If impeachment hearings begin or if investigations into pre-war intelligence begin or if threats of legal action about Guantanamo or Abu-Ghraib start up, it won’t go well for the Dems. What makes those possibilities, though, is not only the desire of the far-left members of Congress, but the demands of the moonbat left that feel they helped push them over the top last week. That crowd will start demanding results for their support minutes after Nancy Pelosi grabs the gavel. The fact is that the desires and values of the Democrats are still out of line with most of America. They had to suppress it and hide it to get elected. Now, it’ll become visible again. If the new Congress does anything to draw attention, it will only serve to remind the public who exactly these folks are.
As part of this “hiding in plain sight” approach, the Dems ran by running against people who weren’t even up for election. They told us to vote for them because they hated Bush and they know we do, too. They told us to vote for them because Bush has screwed up the war. They told us to vote for them because Tom DeLay was “obviously” corrupt, Mark Foley was a pedophile, Jack Abramoff was a weasel and those were all Republicans. That’s only about half a step away from saying, “Vote for me because my opponent associates with Jews”. I’m sure the social liberals had a heyday with the Ted Haggard story, too. Here was someone proclaiming to be a champion for family values who seemed to admit to drug use (or at least purchase) and spending time alone with a gay escort. They screamed hypocrisy and argued that everything Haggard stood for must now be invalidated. I’m not sure they are convinced that all of these actions were wrong, they just wanted the conservative base to think they were wrong. Gerry Studds had much more evidence against him in 1983 than Foley does now, and yet he ran for re-election and won! Where’s the outcry from the left about that? Abramoff had just as much to do with Democrats as Republicans, but none of those acts of “corruption” count to them. It’s not about moral indignation. It’s about stirring up the base against it’s leaders. It’s immensely cynical because these folks don’t even believe all of these actions to be something to worry about.
As I see it, the Dems now have two options: They can provide a clear, alternative plan for the country that resonates with the public. This would allow them to start building for a run at the White House in ‘08. Or, they can screw it up. They have a multitude of ways to blow it. They can overplay the “mandate” and grind the government to a halt. They could filibuster judges. They could cut off funds for the war and force a withdrawl. They could simply demand a schedule for withdrawl and threaten to close the purse. They could start investigations and/or impeachment proceedings and let the government be tied up with that for the next two years. It’s a minefield for them right now and I suspect there are too many purists in their midst to avoid them all.
As I said, it’s not as bad as you think.
