And your point would be what?
Posted on 12/18/2004 8:52:57 PM PST by 26lemoncharlie
Following the Republican landslide victories of the 1994 midterm elections, conservatives watched in amazement as Republican “moderates” proceeded to completely squander the ground they had gained, culminating in the defeat of Bob Dole in ‘96. In the aftermath of this year’s elections, ominous signs point towards a repeat performance.
Apparently, Republican Party operatives didn’t really comprehend why, in the middle of Bill Clinton’s first term, they won big. And to this day, political analysts still don’t seem to grasp the situation. Among conservatives, the conventional wisdom is that the newly realigned GOP Congressional majority had wrongly presumed too much of a mandate, subsequently shocking the American people with an excessively bold agenda.
In truth however, the exact opposite took place. And if the Republican Party doesn’t quickly come to grips with this fact, it may find itself facing larger defeats in ‘06 and ‘08 than the Democrats just received.
By formulating the “Contract with America,” Newt Gingrich brilliantly highlighted the contrasts between the two parties. In presenting America with such a clear choice, he ensured that the liberalism of the Democrats would be on parade. The rest is history.
Yet in the aftermath of the elections, intense media pressure caused Gingrich and the Republicans to backtrack. Bob Dole’s “enough is enough” surrender to Clinton’s bloated 1995 budget sealed Dole’s fate in the following year’s presidential election. Despite Republican wins, the left still dominated.
In reality, the much-heralded “Republican Revolution” simply never happened. Where, for example, was a single bloated bureaucracy eliminated, or required to face even modest budget cuts at the hands of the Republicans?
Far from committing any conservative “excesses,” it was the abandonment of such things which disillusioned the “grassroots” and convinced them that “business as usual” still reigned supreme in Washington. Hence, they stayed home on Election Day in ‘96.
So, how have Republicans fared during the brief “lame duck” Congressional session following this year’s election? Initial signs are not encouraging. Rather than confronting the Democrats’ obstructionism, and their continued pandering to the counterculture, Republicans are once again waffling, conceding, and capitulating.
The recently passed “National Security Reform Act” is a prime example. Key to American security is regaining control of its borders. Amazingly, Congress decided to remove a provision from the security reform measure that would have clamped down on the ability of illegal aliens (such as the nineteen hijackers of 9-11) to obtain drivers’ licenses.
According to opponents of the provision, such discussion belongs in other legislation. Yet if the mass influx of undocumented foreigners isn’t relevant to the security of the nation, little else is.
Beyond all of the excuses, the reality of the situation is that the Republicans in the House and Senate have no stomach to confront the illegal alien issue, for fear of media backlash. They apparently remain clueless as to the receding relevance of the “mainstream” media, or the fact that their acquiescence to it will cause an enormous rift with the “base” from whom they so recently garnered electoral victories.
On another front, Senate Minority leader Harry Reid of Nevada highlighted the tight spot in which Senate Democrats presently find themselves. Completely abandoning any pretence of bipartisan cooperation, Reid pressed forward in the footsteps of his predecessor, the recently deposed Tom Daschle of South Dakota.
On a weekend talk show, Reid sounded like the standard, cliched, liberal Democrat of the Washington “insider” crowd, promising obstruction and rancor, but not surprisingly accompanied by the standard liberal demands that Republicans “reach across the aisle.”
If a groundswell of disapproval occurs in response to his caustic diatribe, Reid, being another partisan Democrat Senator from a “red state,” could eventually face a fate similar to that suffered by Daschle. Fortunately for Reid, Senate Republicans may well ride in to his rescue. Fearing possible negative ramifications from altering the present senate rules that allow legislation to be stalled by a forty vote filibuster, Republicans are again showing their reluctance to play “hard ball” when confronted with such obstructionism.
Presently, Democrats have been using this technique to thwart the appointment of judges who would uphold the Constitution. So, conservatives are left wondering what possible ramifications could be worse than a continued decimation of the Constitution.
John Kerry’s liberalism, when viewed against the backdrop of the War on Terror, provided the contrast that yielded significant Republican Congressional gains, and a victory for President Bush. If Republicans continue to erase that contrast, they will eventually erase the victory.
Comments
And your point would be what?
I'd tell you what to do, but I'd get banned immediately.
Tell Him that when you go to be judged.
I'll be judged for rewards. I don't have to worry about judgement for salvation.
The Blood of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world has already taken care of that.
It's difficult not to sin by laughing at our likely final reward. You had better get your ugly, foolish, unchristian act together before it's too late.
I had "better" keep my faith in Christ, his Blood, and His Resurrection since I'm regenerated.
Nothing else is needed, thank you very much.
Yep. Dude nails it.
Send the parents back, and put the "anchor babies" in foster homes.
Yes, She is His earthly Mother. And who honors His Blessed Mother, honors Her Son. "Behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed"
I give up. who wrote it?
Never say never. The internet, the talk radio, and hopefully real Americans will be thinking about America first.
See post #81
Perot is a wingnut, and the wings are like Mickey Mouse Ears..
Course Bush(all three of em) are RINOs...
Better a Rino over a wingnut.. More than 50 percent of America does not know what America is.. Thats why they vote for all kinds of nuts.. not just winged ones..
Barring a revolution America is spiraling down the drain tubes of socialism.. Very few officials on Capitol Hill are NOT socialists.. either party.. and the State Department is sewage central.. and most republicans LOVE the SMELL of it.. else they would do something about it, they don't, and won't .. Don't hold your breath..
What ever happened to term limits?
Yes -- the porno issue is apparently that important to them.
In all European capitals you will find the public engaged in discussing politics in coffee shops. In our country the children are told not to discuss religion or politics. No wonder we have very few Americans with passion to improve our government. May be cloning should be allowed so that people like you and me can be cloned for better America?
Maybe YOU.. I'm way to close to thinking terrorists nukeing a city in the U.S might be a good thing, FOR AMERICA.. I'm way too cold to be an icehole.. cause when the water freezes over there is no more hole..
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