Posted on 11/21/2006 10:53:54 AM PST by 300magnum
Republicans surely have the bigger problem. They're back in the minority after a dozen years running the show on Capitol Hill.
And they've compounded the problem by making what appears to be an Hispanic affirmative action pick for the new boss of the Republican National Committee (Sen. Mel "Guest Worker" Martinez), and by bringing world-class pork-barreler Trent Lott back into the leadership ranks of the United States Senate, and by keeping the same top two leaders in the House (Rep. John Boehner and Rep. Roy Blunt) who oversaw the November 7th debacle which gave the nation "Speaker" Pelosi.
If inside-the-beltway Republicans ever learn lessons, it seems they learn the wrong ones.
But it's not all cookies-and-cream over on the Democrat side of the aisle by any stretch.
* The top bananas in their party, starting with How-weird Dean and San Fran Nan, are FAR more liberal than the nation as a whole. They likely won't be able to resist the urge to overreach...like Hillary did with nationalized health care in the early 90s. And when they do, voters will rebel and break out the pitchforks.
* House Speaker Nancy Pelosi made a critical mistake in publicly backing Rep. Jack Murtha over Rep. Steny Hoyer for the party's #2 slot. She made an existing rift in her caucus even worse, hardening already hard feelings. But she also committed the unpardonable political sin of not vanquishing her opponent and leaving him to fight another day. Her candidate, Murtha, lost. The rule is: If you're gonna kill the king, kill the king. Hoyer remains alive and kicking.
* The Hill reported last week that "Five female members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) refused to back incoming Caucus Chairman Joe Baca (D-Calif.) in a vote Wednesday, citing concerns ranging from poor management of the group's political arm to a lack of respect for female lawmakers." The paper noted the meeting devolved into a "nasty closed-door debate" and some believe the group will break up over gender lines.
* One of the reasons Democrats picked up a number of seats is that they ran non-traditional Democrat candidates; candidates who were pro-gun, pro-life, and in some cases...anti-tax! Free-thinking, if not conservative, Democrats on these key issues are gonna cause a lot of problems for the majority down the road - just as RINOs (Republicans in Name Only) such as soon-to-be ex-Sen. Lincoln Chafee did for Republicans.
And re-election in the House for Democrats is gonna be no Sunday picnic either. A number of Democrats won seats they'd never have won were it not for major scandals - such as the Mark "Happy Pants" Foley seat in Florida. Those first-time D's are gonna have a whale of a time getting re-elected if the GOP puts up strong candidates in 2008.
Also, there's the little matter of gerrymandering. Again, a number of seats the Democrats picked up on November 7 were drawn by GOP-friendly legislatures to be GOP friendly. Or at least competitive. Yes, incumbency is a big advantage. But an incumbent is most vulnerable the first time he or she runs for re-election. And in a "swing" district, holding on is going to be tough for a lot of these freshman Democrats.
To give you a better idea of this political landscape and how it works against Democrats, consider this: According to Ryan Ellis, Federal Affairs Manager over at Americans for Tax Reform, there are now 60 Democrats in the House who represent districts President Bush won in 2004. But there are now only 9 Republicans in the House representing districts that John Kerry won. These Democrats are strangers in a strange land.
So here's the bottom line: Republicans will have an excellent opportunity to retake control of the House in two years. However, if they fail to do so in 2008, it could be a LONG time before they ever get control of the gavel again. And while Democrats may have the majority for now, it's anything but solid. Perhaps the best thing they have going for them is that Republicans never seem to blow an opportunity to blow and opportunity.
I don't know whether to pop a Prozac or drink the Kool-Aid.
(Chuck Muth is president of Citizen Outreach, a public policy advocacy organization in Washington, D.C.)
And they've compounded the problem by making what appears to be an Hispanic affirmative action pick for the new boss of the Republican National Committee (Sen. Mel "Guest Worker" Martinez), and by bringing world-class pork-barreler Trent Lott back into the leadership ranks of the United States Senate, and by keeping the same top two leaders in the House (Rep. John Boehner and Rep. Roy Blunt) who oversaw the November 7th debacle which gave the nation "Speaker" Pelosi.News like this makes me glad we lost. We deserved to lose.
split the difference and wash the Prozac down with Kool-Aid.
Don't worry. The same GOP kool-aid drinkers will be begging you to vote for the RINOs in 2008 or else it's your fault that the Dims are in power. The GOP have gone beyond the Stupid Party into the Comatose Party.
If you don't eat right, it can get that way ...
Prozac & Koolaid sometimes cause an intense craving for White Castle burgers.
I'll keep saying it: There are going to be a lot of one term wonders come January 09.
Dunno 'bout you, but my experience with Sliders strongly suggests against them being in any way associated with constipation.
I don't think I deserved it.
YUCK
Another good article. This is all information I was not aware of. I really hope the GOP can take advantage of this but again, I'm not holding my breath.
Read later.
just as RINOs (Republicans in Name Only) such as soon-to-be ex-Sen. Lincoln Chafee
One down. Just remembering this makes me feel better. Now tell me again how this election shows that the voters wanted the country to lurch left.
I agree. We did deserve to lose. The GOP was arrogant before the election in assuming that they had so many "safe" seats like Richard Pombo's only to see them taken away handily. That and we have a President who takes conservatives for granted with his immigration policies and foreign trade policies that benefit everyone in the world except America. The debt and the deficit are higher than ever. Then there's the war. What a mess. Bush is INSANE for allowing the media access to Iraq so they can foment insurrection at home by consistently representing our troops as baby-killers & etc. We can't win a politically correct war when the other side has no such constraints on their actions. We deserved to lose the election because we abandoned the principles that brought us to control in 1994.
Although these remarks wont garner you any new friends on this board but you speak true (though it hurts).
So the corollary to yor post is that we deserve the Democrats?
On the first day of the 104th Congress, the new Republican majority will immediately pass the following major reforms, aimed at restoring the faith and trust of the American people in their government:
FIRST, require all laws that apply to the rest of the country also apply equally to the Congress; SECOND, select a major, independent auditing firm to conduct a comprehensive audit of Congress for waste, fraud or abuse; THIRD, cut the number of House committees, and cut committee staff by one-third; FOURTH, limit the terms of all committee chairs; FIFTH, ban the casting of proxy votes in committee; SIXTH, require committee meetings to be open to the public; SEVENTH, require a three-fifths majority vote to pass a tax increase; EIGHTH, guarantee an honest accounting of our Federal Budget by implementing zero base-line budgeting.
These same things could've been used by an enterprising Dem as a campaign issue in the recent election. We committed the sin of pride and topped it off with a dollop of hubris.
Senator Bob Casey.
'nuff said.
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