Posted on 11/10/2006 7:24:07 AM PST by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
ELECTION POST-MORTEM
While most Republicans woke up this morning lamenting Armageddon Tuesday, some of us didn’t lose any sleep over the election results. Happy at the prospect of two years with Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi running Congress? Hardly. But there are a lot of silver linings behind these otherwise dark clouds…
* The single, most important lesson here: Democrats didn’t win; Republicans lost. And they didn’t just lose; they were routed. Voters didn’t reward Democrats, they punished Republicans. Badly. This wasn’t the country saying it wanted to go further Left; it was the country saying Republicans had already taken the country too far Left. This wasn’t about taking the country in a new direction; it was about correcting the GOP’s course.
* This wasn’t swing voters swinging over to the Left. This was conservative voters swinging back to the Right. This was “burning the village down to save it.” Conservatives didn’t necessarily stay home, though certainly many did. But they did find other ways to protest the GOP’s leftward tilt. It’ll be interesting to see the “under-vote” in this year’s congressional races. That would be the number of ballots cast where a vote in the congressional race was left blank.
* Yesterday’s election was a repudiation of George W. Bush’s brand of “compassionate conservatism.” It was also a repudiation of waging a politically correct war with one hand self-tied behind your back. No American soldier’s life is worth a mosque. And American generals, not American lawyers should be running the war. You’re either all in…or get out.
* The Democrats, of course, are taking all the wrong lessons out of yesterday’s results, a fact which can’t help but help Republicans regain their bearings and regain their majorities two years from now. Democrats will over-reach, as is their nature. The big question is whether or not the GOP will reposition itself to take advantage of the opportunity sure to come in 2008.
* Had yesterday’s reckoning with conservatives happened in 2008 instead of 2006, Republicans would have likely lost not only Congress, but the White House, as well. Best that the lesson was taught to Republicans now than later.
* The entire House Republican leadership team should now resign - from Denny Hastert on down. It’s time to hand the ball off to Reps. John Shadegg and Mike Pence. Had House GOP members done that last January when they had the chance, they may have avoided the disaster they suffered yesterday.
* Question: Now that Democrats have wrested control of Congress from the Republicans, how long do you think it will be before we see helicopters airlifting the last U.S. service personnel from the roof of the American embassy in Baghdad?
* Do you think the Republican establishment will FINALLY have learned not to put its fate in the hands of a Dole? Bob Dole gave Republicans the embarrassing 1996 presidential defeat, and his wife Liddy, who was put in charge of the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) this cycle, coached the team to the crushing Senate losses a decade later.
* The biggest victory in losing yesterday? The defeat of liberal Sen. Lincoln Chafee (ACU Lifetime Rating: 37) in Rhode Island. Not only was the Senate’s most liberal Republican purged from the ranks, but the Republican Party’s establishment got a kick right in the shorts, as well. Recall that the NRSC, the RNC and the White House pulled out all the stops to defeat Chafee’s conservative challenger in the GOP primary just two months ago, saying the party had to sacrifice principle for electoral victory. As it turned out, they got neither. Conservative Republican voters in Rhode Island got their revenge.
* As did conservative Republican voters in Pennsylvania, where Sen. Rick Santorum was upbraided for famously saving liberal Republican Sen. Arlen Specter’s bacon two years ago in his GOP primary race against conservative Rep. Pat Toomey. Payback’s a…
* As did conservative voters in Ohio, where Sen. Mike DeWine (ACU Lifetime Rating: 80) got spanked, at least in part, for his role in the infamous Gang of 14 which stopped the Republican majority from deploying the “nuclear option” and ending the Democrat blockade of judicial nominations.
* Republican Sen. Conrad Burns out in Montana got hit by conservatives for not only drifting too far left on the Earmark Express, but for getting too tied up in the Jack Abramoff insider scandal. Any Montanan who “goes native” in Washington, DC is gonna have some big problems.
* When a strong social conservative such as Sen. Jim Talent loses in a bedrock state of social conservatism such as Missouri over the social issue of embryonic stem cell research, it’s time to rejigger the conservative legislative priorities and get back to the basics of taxes, spending and national defense.
* Perhaps the most devastating loss of the evening will end up being Sen. George Allen in Virginia, a race which will likely be “too close to call” for quite some time…with the balance of power in the Senate on the line. Allen was the toast of the town just two short year’s ago after riding herd on the extremely successful GOP effort that resulted in a 55-45 Republican majority in the Senate in 2004. And he was fast-tracked to be the conservative choice in the early 2008 GOP presidential contest. Those hopes are now gone, even if he does somehow miraculously hold onto his Senate seat. Oh, how the mighty have fallen.
* Republicans wouldn’t have lost the Senate, if in fact they do end up losing the Senate, had Republican Tom Kean Jr. won in New Jersey. Kean, you’ll recall, is the Republican candidate who called for Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld’s resignation in the campaign. Now the Left might hate Rumsfeld, but conservatives don’t. Not a smart political move there.
* One bright light in the Senate contests: conservative Republican Sen. John Ensign whupped Jimmy Carter’s kid’s butt in Nevada. There’s nothing quite like beating a Carter for conservatives.
* Oh, and let’s not forget that little Democrat dust-up in Connecticut. Remember, Democrats are crowing that yesterday’s victories were a victory for the anti-war movement. But former Democrat Sen. Joe Lieberman came back as an Independent to crush the Left’s anti-war candidate yesterday, 50-40 percent.
* You gotta believe there was a serious anti-Republican backlash out in the Colorado gubernatorial race, where outgoing Gov. Bill Owens sold out the Right by supporting efforts to suspend the state’s government-restraint TABOR law last year. A strong GOP candidate, Rep. Bob Beauprez - who once served as the state’s Republican Party chairman - went down in flames. Thanks, Gov. Owen.
* Asa Hutchinson was best known as George Bush’s drug czar for a time, before doing a stint at the poorly-regarded…at least as far as conservatives are concerned…Department of Homeland Security. He lost his bid for governor in Arkansas.
* Republican Rep. Jim Nussle lost his bid for the governor’s office in Iowa. Nussle married a lobbyist a few years back.
* Republican Dick DeVos lost his bid against the job-killing Democrat governor in Michigan. The DeVos family was well-known for their opposition to the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative which would have banned the use of affirmative action in government hiring and college admissions. Voters passed MCRI and abolished affirmative action by an overwhelming margin yesterday. A HUGE victory for my friend Ward Connerly, who I hope to have on this week’s radio show Friday night.
* The best doggone victory yesterday for limited-government conservatives was Gov. Mark Sanford winning re-election in South Carolina. Sanford was under fire for being too “libertarian” - including supporting school vouchers and vetoing Republican-passed spending bills. In fact, the GOP majority leader did ads for the Democrat candidate because he was ticked off that Sanford showed up one day in the Legislature holding two pigs under his arms - one called “Pork” and the other called “Barrel.” Sanford was also criticized roundly for not compromising his principles or cutting deals on core issues. He won with 55 percent of the vote.
* The worst defeat for conservatives yesterday was the loss of Rep. J.D. Hayworth in Arizona. Not only did the GOP lose a true limited-government conservative, but a leader in the fight against illegal immigration as well as an articulate spokesman. Most Republicans are tongue-tied, wishy-washy weenies when on TV. Hayworth was a notable exception. But something tells me J.D. won’t be off the stage for long. Gov. Hayworth or Sen. Hayworth has a nice ring to it.
* Whether you call it a house-cleaning or thinning the herd, there’s no mistaking the fact that a number of well-know moderate-to-liberal Republicans in the House of Representatives were booted yesterday. Robert Simmons (ACU Lifetime Rating: 54) in Connecticut was trailing this morning, though the race was still too close to call. Fellow Connecticutian (or is it Connecticutite) Nancy Johnson (ACU Lifetime Rating: 47) lost. Charlie Bass (ACU Lifetime Rating: 71) in New Hampshire lost. John Sweeney (ACU Lifetime Rating: 77) in New York lost. Deborah Pryce (ACU Lifetime Rating: 79) in Ohio lost. Curt Weldon (ACU Lifetime Rating 70) in Pennsylvania lost.
There’s much, much more to go over, but I’m off to the radio studio for some post-election analysis on NPR. We’ll pick this back up later. But believe you me, this is not as bad for limited-government conservatives as many folks would have you think. This was a much-needed pruning which will allow the GOP to come back much healthier in the future…
This was, indeed, a loss for Republicans. But they asked for it. Serves ’em right. And in the long run, this may yet prove to be a huge victory for limited government conservatism. Onward and rightward!
"We cannot allow amnesty for criminals. They must never be allowed to become U.S citizens. That'll be 12 million more votes for the democrats."
We will have amnesty for all those illegal aliens. When we controlled the government we had a chance, one last shot, to stop the flow. But President Bush and a sizeable portion of the Republican contingent still seated in the US Senate adamantly refused to do what Border Conservatives want.
Now the Democrats are in charge, Bush is still in the White House, and many of the Republican Senators who wanted amnesty are still seated.
I mention the Senators, because the only place to STOP amnesty is a filibuster (the President won't veto an amnesty bill; he wants one), and there are not 41 Republican Senators willing to filibster amnesty. Moreover, as you pointed out, Hispanic immigrants are the Democrats' "majority maker" for the next hundred years. They replenish the ranks and REPLACE all of those millions of babies of the Left lost to abortion. If there is ONE issue on which the Democratic Senate will use the nuclear option, it is in ensuring that amnesty-by-another-name gets through the Senate. Bush will sign it.
So yes, there will be 12 million more votes. And more to come therefrom.
The only thing we can still control is whether or not that 12 million become DEMOCRATS. Right now, they certainly will. There is no doubt about it. The Republican party stands (at least some in the party stand) against them being here in the first place, and have worked to try and unravel much of the social safety net on which poor people, like blacks and Hispanics, depend. So, OF COURSE they're going to vote Democratic, en masse, unless Republicans do something to capture a significant part of this voter base.
It is not hopeless, but it requires a gut check.
Republicans cannot have ANY of their agenda if they don't hold power, and with Democrars slated to give amnesty, the anti-immigration fight is lost now. We had our shot, we didn't take it, we're never going to have those numbers again, because Hispanic immigrants are going to tilt the tide more and more in favor of Democrats.
So, we have to make peace with reality. Stopping Hispanic immigration, MASSIVE Hispanic immigration, isn't going to happen. Stopping amnesty isn't going to happen. We don't have the power. The President wants it.
In the face of that politcal reality, we need to figure out how to get a big chunk of Hispanic voters.
Pro-family, pro-life organization is the way.
Stop trying to block them - we can't.
Welcome them. Promise to secure the social safety net. And campaign with the church to organize Hispanics on pro-life lines. That will get many many of them on our side and turn the loss on the issue into a gain for the future,. It;'s the only way.
later
"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
And unfortunately this was a known strategy of effecting regime change by AQ for the past few years and was known by many in this country and the public selectively ignored by the masses while voting at the election booths on Tues!
With effecting regime change as their strategy, and successfully doing so, they do in effect have the world under their control.
I fear that with the ditsy sleepy headed liberals in control of this country the collective citezenry will again fall asleep and return to their dozy pre 9/11 existence.
Apparently the enemy has eternal patience to strike. We, on the other hand, have become tired of the war game and want to put down our toys and go home to the world before 9/11.
Ping to read later
Well, if this issue were SO important, why didn't the GOP campaign on this issue.
It never came up. Never.
So quit blaming the voters because the GOP's campaigns sucked.
Can we please stop this charade that this election was somehow about Repubs being "too far left"?
It was about Iraq. Period.
It was Iraq, because they had nothing else to run on. If they had successes that could have offset Iraq, we would have won. The fact is, we have blown it on everything.
You're nuts. Milton Friedman said our system cannot sustain these numbers of illegals while we have a welfare state.
Last I looked, Pryce won.
They lost because they had a "R" behind their names, not because they were moderates.
The party did not purge them, the voters in their districts did because they were vulnerable.
If you note, the most conservative members were also purged, as you call it...
This was a referendum on republican leadership and direction, and to suggest that more of the same is the answer, is at best foolish, and really stupid IMO....
Attacking the moderates in the party did contribute to the losses, and to expect any other result is political idiocy...
It's going to be interesting to watch as conservatives flail about, trying to ignore the reality of what happened. I doubt they will figure it out for some time, and in 08 will dig the hole even deeper.
Damn shame....I worked most of my politically aware life to put republicans in charge, and what I got was a right wing attack on the structure of the party, and it resulted in a complete rout at the polls.
Damn shame....
They're not mutually exclusive. The campaigns were comatose on this and the conservatives who didn't vote are stupid. The fact is every intelligent conservative should be aware of the significance of the Supreme Court. They shouldn't need it to be explained to them. It's possible the people who didn't campaign on that thought everyone in the base understood it (which is wrong). I can blame the campaigns and the conservatives who didn't vote.
I would love it for some conservative to come out and say it but it will never happen: The majority of people who voted this week were just too stupid to know what is right for America! Of course now *I* sound like the elitist. Two years ago we were the ones called stupid, closed minded, and extremist for supporting GWB. We didnt like the criticism then, so I am hesitant to insult people now.
However, since '04 we have had 2 more years to see the threat we face, and the need to remain united as a nation against this common enemy. For millions of voters to send a signal to the terrorists that we are divided was not very wise, IMHO. One of the biggest failures of the GOP though was to campaign on the WOT, the successes in Iraq, and the need to remain strong and united. Maybe they did this in some districts and states but I did not see it in this area. I also think they dropped the ball by not talking more about the extreme leftism of the Democrate leadership in the House and Senate. Just maybe if they had run a slightly better campaign they could have saved a few seats.
It may not be in a conservatives best interest to vote against the Republicans; however, ...
If you push someone -- anyone -- too far, they may forget just what exactly is in their own best interests when they take action.
Every GOP Presidential ticket since 1976 has had a Bush or a Dole on it.
It's time to change that.
Or perhaps if we somehow convince those conservative dems, newly elected, to join us in getting rid of the welfare states, then all these welfare-suckers will go back to their native countries.
Oh, who am I kidding...
It's good to see so many RINOs have been trimmed away.
Amen.
It's amazing that, with all of the negative consequences that will result from losing, that the Republican party was so willing to court a loss by keeping all of it's negative baggage.
It's almost as if the Republican leadership wanted to lose.
Damn shame....I worked most of my politically aware life to put republicans in charge, and what I got was a right wing attack on the structure of the party, and it resulted in a complete rout at the polls.
----
Looks like someone has forgotten that the Republicans are supposed to BE the right-wing of politics...
It's not clear that he lost- votes are still being counted. The race was called by the media, not by any qualified authority.
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Thank you ..This need to kep being repeated.
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