Posted on 11/09/2006 1:07:50 AM PST by Zakeet
If there was still any doubt, the Republican Revolution of 1994 officially ended Tuesday night with the loss of at least 28 seats and majority control of the House of Representatives. As I write this, the race in Virginia that will determine if the Republicans also lose control of the Senate is too close to call, but leaning Democrat.
It was a rout.
How did we get here? The war in Iraq and historical voting patterns that favor the opposition party in off-year elections are factors suggested by many post-election pundits. Certainly, the mounting problems in Iraq were on voters' minds, but responsibility for the conduct of the war lies with the executive branch, and President Bush was not on the ballot.
That said, this was a national election, driven by national issues. One big issue in exit polls suggests widespread voter backlash against the "culture of corruption." There is something to this, I think. Over time, too many Republicans in the governing majority forgot or abandoned their national vision, letting parochial interests dominate the decision-making process.
Everybody who can should make a copy of the article's conclusion, send it to every sitting GOP elected official, put it in the hands of every GOP candidate, and nail it to the door of every GOP office.
Specifically, "The question Republicans now need to answer is: How do we once again convince the public that we are in fact the party many Democrats successfully pretended to be in this election? To do so, Republicans will need to shed their dominant insecurities that the public just won't understand a positive, national vision that is defined by economic opportunity, limited government and individual responsibility.
We need to remember Ronald Reagan's legacy and again stand for positive, big ideas that get power and money out of politics and government bureaucracy and back into the hands of individuals. We also need again to demonstrate an ability to be good stewards of the taxpayers' hard-earned money. If Republicans do these things, they will also restore the public's faith in our standards of personal conduct. Personal responsibility in public life follows naturally if your goal is good public policy."
The rats will do even worse, but Americans will have to feel that pain first before they realize what they've done.
The party in charges take the fall. Republicans got fat and weak, then abandoned the people who put them in power.
Payback is a b@tch, and now she's speaker of the house.
Brilliantly and succinctly put.
I don't think that's what Armey is saying at all.
Good post, but you seem to conclude that payback only affects those thrown out of office. It doesn't. It affects all of us, and not voting GOP DID NOT HELP.
I have a hard time beleiving that Reps lost because of "culture of corruption". I just don't believe that the public reacted to Foley and Abramoff by putting Barney Frank and Harry Reid in charge.
Yes, Dick - clearly our problem is with God, right? Fortunately our Founders were also fond of him.
Perhaps, you don't know that his use of the word 'parochial' is not religious in this context. He means 'very limited or narrow in scope or outlook; provincial; or local and not national.
I wish y'all would quit referring to ordinary Christians as "evangelicals."
'Perhaps' I was taking it to mean his criticism of evangelical persuassion on conservatives. Thanks - I'll stand by what I said.
Armey is a bloviating fool. This article is worse than meaningless; especially in the light of Armey's trashing of anything and everything GOP, lately.
That IS what they did, though.
That "lesson" will dissolve in destruction the minute an American city gets nuked by terrorists.
Now show how what Armey said is incorrect. If you can't, then you would appear to be one of the Republicans who can benefit most by listening to what the man has to say.
Just because you don't like what he said, doesn't mean it's untrue.
Look, folks, we took a major league shellacking last night. People did not repudiate the ideals of the Republican Party but the actions of the party. We certainly need to get our actions back in line with our ideals.
Republicans also suffered the NORMAL PARTY IN POWER LOSSES for a sixth year administration. And it was Republicans all over the idealogical spectrum: liberal jackball Lincoln Chaffee and Constitutionalist J.D. Hayworth both lost.
So I don't buy this "all is lost" mentality. We've got to regroup and start targeting the vulnerable liberals in the House and Senate for '08.
Politics is the art of the possible, so our strategy should be to look for the possibilities and exploit them.
I am reminded of the Jewish patriarch Joseph: his story is a remarkable example of success, failure, success, failure. In all circumstances he stayed true to his God and his ideals, whether things were going GREAT or if he was utterly rejected. We would do well to follow that example.
I have been interested in, studied, practiced and taught about Christianty all of my life, and I can't figure out what "evangelicals" is supposed to mean. fyi
Needs a little editing.
"The party in charges the mainstream media deems is bad take the fall."
Remembering accuracy is important! :-D
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