Posted on 11/11/2006 2:28:17 PM PST by crusher
In looking back at the electoral wipe out last Tuesday, I am left with a sense of great optimism facing those with my political world view. There is no doubt about the breadth of the election outcome mechanics, given that the Democrats picked up a large number of Senate, House, and gubernatorial seats previously held by Republicans while I believe the GOP took exactly ZERO seats in return. Think about that for a minute.
Here are but a few reasons why I am excited for the future based on the recent and immediate past. It is neither a complete nor perfect analysis, but it gives me comfort nevertheless. A number of my observations reflect the premise that the Dinosaur Media is not a rational place, and that Liberalism is not a cogent world-view, and so these foundations are not explicitly elucidated in-depth. Combined with my opinion that the USA is NOT a conservative polity, I remain a long-term pessimist about the ascendency of constitutional principles (admittedly the statistics about fertility give me hope, as conservatives are out-birthin’ the libs by almost 2:1) Nor am I underestimating the amount of catastrophic damage that can be inflicted by the Moonbat Brigades in a short while. We have yet to recover from the Carter fiasco, and we may never recover from the Xlintoon malignancy. They are quite simply the most wretched public figure in American history.
But on to happier thoughts.
1. The GOP got what it deserved, even if I didn’t deserve what it got. Over the years they had become increasingly imperious, corrupt, debauched, contemptuous of their constituency, and unconcerned with reality, responsibility and security. In short, they provided no alternative to the Democrats, and paid the price for it. For those of us who espouse rational principle-based behavior wherein actions have consequences, this punishment is a very good sign for the future.
2. Also, anyone who does not think this was a repudiation of “W” is simply not paying attention. And how is this good? Unlike Beelzebubba, whose mental illnesses (narcissism and sexual psychopathology) will not allow him to withdraw gracefully from public life, at least W has the good manners to know by 2008 that his place is in the past, and unlike Xlintoon he will retreat there. “W” won’t be on the ballot, and will possibly not even be an issue except to keep the Moonbat Brigades in full braying mode.
3. The electorate rejected half-measure “conservatism;” why vote for a socialist wannabe when you can have the real thing? Interestingly enough, the electorate indicated it generally may not yet want even real socialists (see below) but it definitely does not want luke-warm ones either. The GOP collectivist is really a faint replica. If you don’t think so, just compare a socialist-lite nitwit like Lincoln Chaffee or Mike DeWine with a hard core Stalinist like Dean, Pelosi, Kennedy or Feingold.
4. Notwithstanding the breadth of the results, their depth was but a micron deep. 2/3 of the races resulting in House switches had a margin of something like 2 or 3%. You can claim a mandate all you want with results like that, but it won’t sell except in the Lamestream Media, especially when you aren’t spouting anything even remotely resembling a platform, except that you hate W and you aren’t him, and...
5. ...The Dems have honed the blade of hate politics to a keen edge, but hatred is a poor way to build a stable transcendent movement, political or otherwise. Make no mistake about it, the closest thing to a thread in these elections was that the Dems hate “W,” and I am not using hyperbole. In fact, their hatred is so all-consuming that they have devolved so far from reality that they live under the delusion that since in their minds his electoral victories were not legitimate, he is not really the President, so we are not really at war. To quote Speaker-elect Pelosi, “Iraq is not a war to be won, it is a problem to be solved.” I guess that settles that. Unfortunately for all of us, the Islamobarbarians do not buy into this particular madness.
6. On the other hand, there is in my mind the very slight but very real possibility that, traitorous Jack Murtha notwithstanding, the Dems may be more aggressive in fighting against those very same Islamobarbarians. Why? First and foremost, they will have a very friendly press to report barbarian atrocities rather than accuse US troops of being monsters, and to report the wonderful progress being made under Dem “leadership.” Plus, this posture will sell well in purple states. Consider this - all the ‘08 Dem Prez candidate has to do win is hold all the states Gore or Kerry won and pick up JUST ONE MORE. Security is good politics, and when it comes to political hardball the Dems are the Yankees and the Pubbies are Sid’s Bar and Grill slo-pitch team.
7. The election purged a number of RINO’s from the ranks of party leadership, which is an extraordinarily important thing. Even more, the one most painful transfers in the Senate was the result of Santorum foolishly supporting Arlen Sphincter two years ago (after basically being blackmailed by W and Rove) rather allowing Toomey and Sphincter to have a fair contest. Santorum lost the ‘06 election in ‘04. Dewine and Chaffee were worthless. The sizeable population of RINOs in the Senate indicate we may be seeing two more election cycles to get rid of them. Think Joshua. Think Jericho.
8. The election smoked out a bunch of Not-Ready-for Prime Time GOP minor leaguers like Allen, who until this inept campaign had been my fave for Prez ‘08, and other lightweights like Talent. It was certainly better to learn now that Allen wasn’t particularly gifted before we became invested in his Presidential run. Anyone that undisciplined and apparently a goober-doofus to the core such as he is best not to have to think about much anymore.
9. Thanks to the defeat of important allies like DeWine and Chaffee, John McLame is weaker than before, so that’s a really good thing. Additionally, the transformation of McLame lieutenant Lindsay Grahamcracker into a conceited self-parody who will likely be booted out in ‘08 makes it even better. To be sure the Dinosaur Media is intent in him as the putative nominee, but I think he was weakened immensely by the electoral tenor and outcome. He concerns me deeply as I truly believe him to be mentally deranged, and I literally cannot decide whether I would be more frightened in ‘08 by an insane candidate (McLame) or an evil one (Hitlery). I hope I do not have to choose between Captain Queeg and Vladimira Lenin. If the GOP must have a liberal candidate, let it be Rudy.
10. At some level, sleaze and corruption lost and virtue and integrity won when there was a choice between the two (not unanimously given the outcome in NJ, but it and RI are wholly owned subsidiaries of Tony Soprano). At least at the political rhetoric level, most of the new Dem candidates portrayed themselves as more decent, moral, virtuous, and just than their GOP counterpart. Ya gotta love that.
11. The sizeable political group known as “Reagan Democrats” re-emerged in force and carried the day. But this time they won the day for the Dems. Looking at a large number of the new winners, they portrayed themselves as some combination of fiscal conservatives, family values folks, pro-gun, and anti-abortion. The fact that they won the election for the socialist/hedonist party makes it all the more fascinating.
12. There are now two distinct Democrat parties trying to co-exist and govern. Get out the popcorn ‘cause this will be great just for the entertainment value alone! I expect open warfare between the growing Blue Dog factions in both houses against the ruling Trotskyite leadership. In the House the Blue Dogs (who have much more in common with Ronald Reagan than Barney Fwank) could be as much as 25% of the majority, and I am especially looking forward to Webb taking on the commies in the Senate. For those of you who do not remember, Webb was Reagan’s Sect. Navy who quit/got fired because to was too kick-ass! He wants to turn the Marines loose in Eye-wreck to let them get the job done.
13. If the Blue Dogs win control of the Party, that is good for the nation just as the first purging of communists was important c.1950 with the banishment of Wallace and his cell. It will, in effect, move the country away from the Left by a whole lot.
14. If the Nambla Nan and Chappaquiddick Tadpole wing of the party win, actually a likelihood since that cadre is the source of money and foot soldiers, we will be treated to a stark view of the distinctions between the hedonist/communist wing of the Democrat Party and the rest of America. It will probably lead to increasingly explicit opportunities for Americans to choose one over the other, complimented by the inevitability that marxist collectivism is always a failure on both an ideological and utilitarian scale. Remember Atlas Shrugged? A little bit of the vapid, lunatic leadership in both houses will be amazingly instructive. Of course the polity may be, after four generations of government schooling and three generations of welfare and two generations of the cancer known as political correctness, beyond instruction and critical observation. At least there will be a chance as the insanity of collectivist theology will be on constant display, and no amount of media lipstick will disguise this particular pig.
15. “W” can no longer hide behind the ineptitude and fecklessness of what would be humorously be called congressional and UN “leadership.” As a limited government small “R” republican I have never been a big fan of his; he will now have to stand and be counted. With the exception of one portion of his foreign policy, he has governed mostly as an uber-left socialist. Even in his choice of Supremes, his initial steps were disastrous and his wisdom “improved” only with the threat of GOP donor money drying up. “Compassionate Conservatism” has been unmasked as what I knew it always was, socialism for rednecks. He is now a repudiated lame duck contemptuous-of-national-sovereignty big-spending leftist president with no place to hide, and I am fully prepared to be disappointed as he moves even further left. And it will be good for the conservative movement to finally realize that he is not one of us, a seed of doubt that must surely be growing given his “what, me worry?” attitude about the Mexican invasion. (I see Mexico as being at war with us just like the Islamobarbarians, but the political establishment sees neither as a threat)
16. Congressional GOP “leadership” can no longer hide behind an undisciplined and silly President. His political “magic” has now been debunked and just perhaps they will stand up to him a little bit, short circuiting his relentless desire to bankrupt the country with a whole notion of idiotic pandering schemes (kudos to the old House on immigration). Whether they do or don’t, they’re on their own now. Among the elected “leadership” we now may have replaced a decent but milquetoast Senate leader with a whole cluster of tigers willing to treat politics the same way their opponents do – as a full contact sport except for the times when it is outright war – and insipid and corrupt former House leaders relegated to obscurity and another clan of tigers waiting in the wings. In the past, we had --in the Senate especially-- a group who never passed up an opportunity to pass up and opportunity. In both houses, we formerly had leaders of majorities who refused to believe of act like they were the majority. They have now seen conclusively that they cannot “work with” collectivists, and they will find out first hand how a real majority behaves as they find themselves stomped and crushed at every turn. I hope it wakes them up. Bipartisanship is when the Evil Party and the Stoopid Party collaborate to do evil, stoopid things. May it rest in peace.
17. This election revealed for the upteenth time that a cogent presentation of conservative principles can work while smear campaigns alone are inadequate to win in their absence. It does not work both ways, of course, and the Left can impugn their opponents not only with impunity but the active complicity of the Dinosaur Media, who can be counted on to provide a relentless drumbeat of negativity and obfuscation in perpetuity, and that ain’t gonna change any time soon. I read an interesting analysis of electoral campaign advertising that reported approximately $1billion was spent during the 18-month campaign season. Compare this to the cumulative value and effect of news cheerleading or condemnation during the same period. By this analysis there was approximately $10 Billion time-value worth of political “reporting” of which about 8% was favorable to conservatives. The only thing to cut through that cacophony is a laser-like focused articulate message presented comprehensibly to the polity. The blueprint for conservative electoral success is right in front of us with brilliant clarity; what more could we ask for?
18. For the 14th consecutive election the most important arbiter of electoral outcome is the so-called conservative “values voters.” When they show up to vote with a vengeance, the GOP conservatives win. When they have anything less than this level of enthusiasm and commitment, GOP conservatives do not win. This pattern has had a correlation factor R-value of almost 1 since it emerged with Reagan’s first election in 1980. The margins of many elections are so close that any affect of this phenomenon in either direction is practically causative. Let me give two divergent examples from this election, Santorum and Talent. In Santorum’s case, the animus generated by his very public support of Arlen Sphincter cost him dearly, mostly in organizational ardor. In a blue state, a red candidate has to have an organization who simply out-hustles their opponents. Didn’t happen this time, especially since Casey could persuasively portray himself as a pro-lifer like his dad, who was actually banned from speaking at the Dem convention years ago because he was pro-life. Casey Jr. could effectively run a campaign completely devoid of content because Santorum’s support was so tepid in the early days, and he never caught up. In Talent’s case, he was behind a ton when the values voters got motivated by the stem-cell research plebiscite. Their passion brought the plebiscite from losing by more than 40% to a final defeat of 2%, while they helped Talent close his margin by 1% PER WEEK over the last two months of the campaign. Finally, there is much cause for optimism as the plebiscites presented articulately mostly won, ranging from stemming the southern invasion to gay “marriages.” To be sure our polity is still addicted to copulation without consequence, so there is yet much room for work.
19. The GOP is now ready to be rebuilt with new leadership inside and outside government with articulate, principled, engaging, conservative leadership. A change in leadership temperament is even more important at a practical level than ideological purification. The lessons are there to be learned, all that is required is a modicum of attentiveness, a quality sadly lacking at both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue.
20. This election will be remembered as the one where brilliant and charismatic men like Michael Steele and Ken Blackwell were elevated to national prominence. A 10% switch of black votes from Dem to GOP has astounding implications. (That’s why Clarence Thomas had to be destroyed way back when) Steele is apparently a front-runner for GOP chairmanship in January. Need I say more?
My two cents from the Peoples Republic of Prince George's County, Maryland.
Notwithstanding the breadth of the results, their depth was but a micron deep. 2/3 of the races resulting in House switches had a margin of something like 2 or 3%. You can claim a mandate all you want with results like that, but it won’t sell except in the Lamestream Media, especially when you aren’t spouting anything even remotely resembling a platform, except that you hate W and you aren’t him, and...
Some big-name Dem, I think it was San Fran Nan, already admitted they don't have a mandate.
I see you're from MD. What happened with Steele there, anyway? I heard black folks turned out in droves to vote for him, but that he did poorly in heavily Republican areas. Any truth to this?
You had me wincing there a little about DeWine, mainly because of the role he played in that incredible "Gang of 14" con job that we put over on the rats to get John Roberts, Sam Alito, Priscilla Owen, William Pryor, and even Janice Rogers Brown!! confirmed without breaking a sweat.
But then I checked DeWine's ACU rating and he had a 56 in 2005. Almost Chafee numbers! Horrible!
I never realized he was that lame.
Regards,
LH
A delayed phryyic victory?
The Dems might be able to add 20-30 million more loyal voters in the next two years, Bush seems to like that idea.
While this election was not a good thing, conservatives can make something good come from the aftermath. The inevitable recriminations of defeat give them a golden opportunity.
Incidentally, the portrayal of Jim Talent was unfair. While his pandering on stem cell research was foolish, he was one of the best conservative minds in the U.S. Senate.
Not bad, but there's one thing you forgot...many stupid conservatives still send their young to leftist schools, and even though conservatives are outbirthing leftists, they are turning our young against conservatism. We'd better focus on stopping that leak, and soon.
Calling President Bush 'silly' lands your entire vanity in my garbage can.
Very thought provoking. Thanks for posting it.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." -Manuel II Paleologus
He was "punished."
ping
Time to rebuild?As an old geezer, hope I live long enough to celebrate an 'articulate, principled, engaging, conservative leadership.'
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But I thought Talent avoided conservative issues in the campaign. Am I wrong?
I believe it is all the same war and that will become explicit as the invaders begin to convert to Islam which they will do when they understand that that is where the power lies and that they will thereby make themselves immune to Immigration sweeps. The whole nature of the threat will change drastically as we realize the enemy is, indeed, within the gates and in many millions.
The Amnesty that is now assured will set all of Latin America in motion and we will not be able to slow it without putting the army directly on the border with orders to shoot wholesale.
In the Northeast it seems that Republicans still won't vote for a black man. I would expect a black Republican senator to come from Alabama or Louisiana before anything north of Virginia in the East.
Your loss.
One thing you neglected and is certainly a reason for optimism is the dims penchant for overplaying their otherwise weak hand and shooting themselves in the foot. They were not elected to go and impeach Bush, however deserving he is for breeching every conservative value there is, other than a strong national defense and cutting taxes.
However certain dims see this as payback time and are out to prove a point. This is going to backfire and blowup in their faces. It will become a Wellstone moment for the party. Now that JF Kerry has a "mandate" we can expect many more blunders from him. Same with Nancy.
The only thing I wish Bush would do is turn Justice loose on the dims. He could easily knock out 10-15 of them within 6 months. Dingy H, Conyers and many more. I can't imagine why he would hold back.
But all things considered, I agree with your premise, that this was a necessary blood letting that got rid of a bunch of no good crooks, weak kneed rinos and otherwise incompetent pols. They were total B list pols. Frist while he may have given a great hysterrectomy, was never up to the task of circumsizing the dims. Hastert was simply not up to the task really leading and rather simply used the majority status to slice up the pork and otherwise destroy the conservative values we all believe.
In a way, I see Bush as being something like NY's George Pataki. Pataki's weak indecisive unpricipled leadership, after 12 years has left the pub party in shambles. I went to the voting booth on election day and could not believe the losers that were running. They simply provided zero challenge to the dims who wound up sweeping the elections.
If Bush had 4 more years, that national party would wind up in the same condition, which is another reason to be grateful for this purge.
And finally, much credit for this disaster must go to Karl Rove. He appeared to be the driving force behind prescription drugs, the education bill and numerous other socialist policies that were going to get the MSM and the dims to like republicans. We all can see where this got us.
But I urge everyone to remember that your own personal happiness does not and never has hinged on who is running the country. Rather it relies upon your own view of yourself, your family, your friends and your ability to stay true to all of them.
We will make it through this period and look back and be thankful. Remember, anything that doesn't kill you, makes you stronger.
They might well get that from illegal immigration alone once Amnesty is assured. Remember, illegals vote in Democrat states and in Machine-run cities.
With the Illegal-American vote and the Dead-American vote and the Multiple-American vote, Republicans probably have to have a million vote margin of the Live Citizen vote in order to break even. That margin will increase exponentially when Amnesty is passed.
One hopeful sign is the continued rumbling among Baptists about making a Convention reccommendation that Baptists shun public schools. It may never pass the Convention but it is influencing many Baptists and others, just by being a strong current.
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