The Election 2006 Mandate Myth

Before we start buying all the glorious media analysis of the Democrat ass-whuppin’ of the Republicans last Tuesday, let’s agree on one thing: some of us aren’t taking this lying down.

Twelve years ago, Republicans were basking in the glory that was total victory. Victory over a president that bamboozled the public into thinking he was a “new” Democrat. Today we have Illinois Congressman Rahm Emanuel, chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, claiming that they won this year because liberals moved to the middle, isolating far-right conservatives.

Mandate Myth?

Parks is wrong. Winning an election IS a mandate. It was for Republicans over the past 12 years -- and they NEVER fully took advantage of their opportunities.

Now, the people have given Democrats a chance. That's STUPID -- and DANGEROUS, but had the Republicans kept their promises and held to their principles, a Democratic victory wouldn't have happened.

The Dems DO have a mandate -- that's what's SO frightening.

"Parks is wrong."

Thems fightin' words... :-P

My point is that this mandate is based on lies. Durbin just yesterday was mumbling now on whether it's okay to take the troops out now and what message that would send to our allies and enemy alike.

Wasn't this Democrat takeover all about getting the troops out sooner rather than later...?

Durbin just yesterday was mumbling now on whether it's okay to take the troops out now

Iraq will split the Democrats. Thet were silent on what they would do if elected because there is no general agreement among Democrats about the war except that the Bush administartion was not handling it correctly.

Now, they will have to come up with ideas and the differences in their real positions will surface.

Since the election, have any of you heard the media tell us how bad the economy is? Maybe because Democrats are in control now, everything’s all better now.

The market will soon be telling us what it thinks about the future of the economy. You can't fool the markets.

The cheerleading media will be painting a rosy picture of everything for the next couple of years. Even if gas reaches $10/gal they will tell us how fortunate we are that its not higher. 6% unemployment will be described as being in some type of normal economic equilibrium. Higher inflation will be equated with 'earning' higher yields on your money. We will be living in a media fabricated fantasyland.

Durbin just yesterday was mumbling now on whether it's okay to take the troops out now and what message that would send to our allies and enemy alike.

Could Dick-Head be any dumber? What message would that send? It would send a message to thousands of Iraqis that their death warrant has been signed. It would send a message to the rest of the world that we can't be counted on over the long haul, that when the going gets tough, we'll simply be gone. It is really frightening that these idiots are in power. The Republicans remaining better stand up for this country and not let the Dems steamroller them. If you bet on form though, that doesn't look probable.

If everything else had been exactly the same, except that George Allen had not made that stupid "macaca" statement, and Burns had stepped aside to let a younger person run as the Republican candidate for senator in Montana, we'd be looking at the Republicans still in charge of one house. The margin of victory in those two races was razor-thin, and in some others.

But I guess it's a mandate if they believe it and the public believes it.

It's a volatile electorate. Independents went with the Dems by a huge margin and it seems that spelled the difference in a number of races. Get some of those swing voters back in our camp and get our own people out to vote and we can gain control again in 2008.

We have to have a message though...for the past two years the President, Senate and House Republicans have presented nothing to the American people other than the democratic boogeyman.

Not engaging the debate on the situation in Iraq was a huge mistake. Simply saying "everything's fine...really it is" doesn't get it when your opponents have American casualties to point to and a willing media to help. We appeared to be in denial because we didn't respond with any real arguments.

We win when we have a message and stay on it. The media was just as hostile to the 1994 class as it was to this one. It seemed worse this year because nobody fought back. Nobody presented an agenda that laid out where we wanted to go and how we were getting there.

The scandals didn't help either. When a minority leader is picked, the first thing he or she does shoud be to call on Speaker Pelosi to implement the tougher anti-lobbying rules she proposed last year. Pledge our support to reform the process and have a come to Jesus meeting with the delegation. Make it clear that any skeletons need to come out now because if they come out later committee assignments will be lost and primary opponents will be found.

We are supposed to be the party that is above politics as usual. We are supposed to be the party that places principles above self gratification. We used to be the party of ideas...the party of principles...the party that respected the rule of law.

Get back on that message and the House can be ours again in 2008. The Dems do not have a mandate and they do not have a solid base to work from.

Yours was an eloquent post. In my view, we shall fall back on first principles, which are that we are a low-tax fiscally responsible party that is strong on national defense and we are a big tent that welcomes women, Hispanics, African-Americans and Jews as well as Southern White Protestant males. And we have to walk the walk as well as talk the talk. And being conservatives, we need a strong ethics process because we know greed is a part of human nature. I'll never know why Randy Cunningham, a Vietnam War hero and Abrahamoff and Ney and Foley and Ney and Hastert threw their careers away. I've observed greed as a form of insanity. We have to guard against that lunacy next time the American people trust us with power.

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