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Post Mortem Why Republicans got shellacked in the midterms
the weekly standard ^ | 11/08/2006 9:00:00 AM | Fred Barnes

Posted on 11/08/2006 6:35:06 AM PST by flixxx

THIS ONE IS PRETTY EASY TO EXPLAIN. Republicans lost the House and probably the Senate because of Iraq, corruption, and a record of taking up big issues and then doing nothing on them. Of these, the war was by far the biggest factor. Unpopular wars trump good economies and everything else. President Truman learned this in 1952, as did President Johnson in 1968. Now, it was President Bush's turn, and since his name wasn't on the ballot, his party took the hit.

(Excerpt) Read more at weeklystandard.com ...


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Government; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: elections
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To: flixxx
Explanations are fine, but it will not be a simple matter to regain control. It took the Dems 12 years to recover from the Contract with America. Now they have the power of incumbency.

From 1933 to 1995, a 62 year period, the Dems controlled the House for 58 of those years and the Senate for 54. We are not going to get back the House in 2008. I am old enough to remember the 40 year stranglehold that the Dems had on the House prior to 1995. It is not going to be easy to wrest away power from the Dems again, especially with the demographics changing in places like AZ, Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, and MT. We will be lucky to hold on to what we have.

41 posted on 11/08/2006 6:52:34 AM PST by kabar
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To: lOKKI

If all they've got is two years of "Well Bush put us in this position," all the Dems will ahve for 2008 is the GREAT economy that just started this morning! :)


42 posted on 11/08/2006 6:53:13 AM PST by Darkwolf377 (Republican, atheist, pro-lifer, stranded in Blue Boston)
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To: MNJohnnie

Yeah, but it isn't enough--all that you posted was okay, I guess, but you see, Bush didn't stop Mark Foley. And Nancy Pelosi has a great plan for economic prosperity AND Iraq. (off sarcasm)


43 posted on 11/08/2006 6:53:41 AM PST by SoFloFreeper
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To: Tucker822

Keep repeating the Terrorist mantra and maybe the dems will get a 50 seat majority in 2 years. It is worn out. It doesn't play any more.

Try being conservative. That might help. Duh.


44 posted on 11/08/2006 6:55:16 AM PST by Rodent_in_NY
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To: Oberon

The war and out of control spending.


45 posted on 11/08/2006 6:55:40 AM PST by FreedomPoster (Guns themselves are fairly robust; their chief enemies are rust and politicians) (NRA)
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To: MNJohnnie

Wow, this really is an impressive list. This administration and congress hasn't been quite so bad when you actually take a good look at it.

Thanks for posting!

Jesse


46 posted on 11/08/2006 6:56:09 AM PST by Jesse Segovia
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To: mutley


Yep.


47 posted on 11/08/2006 6:56:49 AM PST by onyx (We have two political parties: the American Party and the Anti-American Party.)
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To: Rodent_in_NY
what will it take to wake up the sheep? a bombing that levels wall street? a nuke in NY? how about one in DC? No real loss there.
48 posted on 11/08/2006 6:56:53 AM PST by SouthernBoyupNorth ("For my wings are made of Tungsten, my flesh of glass and steel..........")
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To: chimera

>>Republicans underestimated the anger of the majority of the electorate about this one issue.

You can see that by perusing several of the post-mortem threads, and seeing how relatively infrequently that comes up.


49 posted on 11/08/2006 6:57:03 AM PST by FreedomPoster (Guns themselves are fairly robust; their chief enemies are rust and politicians) (NRA)
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To: rightinthemiddle
Why is the war in Iraq unpopular?

You really have to ask that? lmao!

50 posted on 11/08/2006 6:57:19 AM PST by Rodent_in_NY
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To: MNJohnnie

The only cut and run conservatives were the guys we elected to forward the ageneda. They cut and ran from that agenda. Americans cut them loose.


51 posted on 11/08/2006 6:58:32 AM PST by DManA
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To: Rodent_in_NY

I posed the question and answered it.


52 posted on 11/08/2006 6:59:18 AM PST by rightinthemiddle (Without the Media, the Left and Islamofacists are Nothing.)
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To: truthandlife
The plan for Nancy is to continue to bash Bush and investigate him. That is the thing that won them the election and they have no idea for a plan so they will continue to do this.

She claims she won't pursue impeachment; but she still can't get her index and middle finger uncrossed.

53 posted on 11/08/2006 6:59:26 AM PST by 3catsanadog (Vote for the person at the primaries; vote for the party at the election.)
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To: SouthernBoyupNorth

One small improvised explosive device would do it for me.

Why do they need all sorts of ingenius plans that take years, maybe even decades to plan and carry out? They use IEDs every day all over the world, very effectively.

The reason your terrorist mantra is worn out is that it doesn't make any sense to anyone who uses their brain.


54 posted on 11/08/2006 7:00:13 AM PST by Rodent_in_NY
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To: freespirited; Oberon; FreedomPoster

The referendum on the war was in liberal Connecticut, and the war won.


55 posted on 11/08/2006 7:00:57 AM PST by kenavi (Save romance. Stop teen sex.)
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To: TexasGreg

If we see a terrorist attack on US soil before the end of Bush's term, I won't be surprised. After his term is finished I fully expect to see something awful happen.


56 posted on 11/08/2006 7:01:17 AM PST by 3catsanadog (Vote for the person at the primaries; vote for the party at the election.)
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To: AngieGOP

You got the plan. The fact they state unpopular war. I don't know how a war can be popular, but they may be the key to survival if we are to have a future. Diplomacy obviously doesn't work. Problem is, I don't think we have bred fighting for our future into too many Americans anymore. Bless those who will fight for us , but they can't do it without support. The will isn't there, do we have to have another attack? That won't do it either, the blame game will be the only thing to happen.


57 posted on 11/08/2006 7:01:29 AM PST by dforest (be careful you don't become what you hate the most)
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To: rightinthemiddle
"Why is the war in Iraq unpopular? --- The MSM "

No question. But, Bush and his 'strategists' mismanaged the initial war campaign by allowing the chaos and insurgency to take hold without engaging sufficient number of troops to safeguard the 'blitzkrieg' aspect to the war. This is where the 'Rumsfeld' factor weighed in, what ticks me off is that there is a reluctance to see this mistake as the cause of where we are today.

58 posted on 11/08/2006 7:01:31 AM PST by The Bronze Titan
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To: kabar
...especially with the demographics changing in places like AZ, Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, and MT. We will be lucky to hold on to what we have.


I totally agree. This is a harbinger of the future. I just don't buy the "Hispanics are personally conservative" argument. They will power the Dems to a dominant position for the long haul.
59 posted on 11/08/2006 7:02:19 AM PST by catbertz
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To: AngieGOP

If that is the plan, then their victory will be short-lived and their Prexy candidate in '08 may well pay the price.

This was a reactionary election, not a responsive one, so if the Democrats think they've been validated, they're in for a big surprise. No amount of media spin will save them once their actual agenda (as you lay it out, and I believe, correctly) becomes clear.

The point was to punish the existing Republican layabouts. Now, they've been punished and next it will be the Democrat crazies. The electorate can usually only fix one problem at a time.

IMHO.


60 posted on 11/08/2006 7:02:45 AM PST by BelegStrongbow (www.stjosephssanford.org: Ecce Pactum, id cape aut id relinque)
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