Post Mortem Why Republicans got shellacked in the midterms

the weekly standard ^ | 11/08/2006 9:00:00 AM | Fred Barnes

[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.

[jmc1969]

I am sorry, but that Rummy line has long since been showen to be crap.

We needed to protect the Shia from attacks, because we didn't they have had to rely on the Madhi Army and Badr now the two biggest problems in Iraq.

[snowrip]

With all due respect, that's a lot of baloney -- and we had better get off this "inaccurate MSM portrayal of Iraq"

I don't think I understand. Maybe you could give us all some examples of unslanted, unbaised coverage on things like school construction and enrollment, hospital construction, improvements to basic infrastructure, reduction in crime, women's rights, education, heroism under fire, military victories, small business and personal wealth creation, family relations, Iraqi police and military sacrifice, lack of torture of the innocent, freedom of speech and the press, evidence of WMD programs, history of Iraqi democracy, the investigation into intelligence processes, the "insurgency" as it actually exists, or anything related to any of the topics, from any MSM news source in the entire world. You can take the rest of your life... you'll need it if your goal is to show that the media coverage of the war in Iraq is unbiased in favor of liberalism and democrat rule. When you drum an unchallenged message into the heads of those with no time or inclination to investigate the issues, that message becomes a basis on which to form an opinion... or to cast votes.

when you've got dozens of U.S. military personnel killed and hundreds wounded every month

News flash... WE ARE AT WAR IN IRAQ. If you subscribe to the absolute fallacy of war without casualties, you'll be disappointed. For example, look at the figures for casualties during Vietnam, compare them to those in Iraq, and then cosider the democrat mantra breathlessly repeated by the media that Iraq is another Vietnam. Then, refer to my last paragraph.

You could also look up the definition of "war" in your dictionary. Better yet, talk to any member of our all-volunteer military, and ask them how they feel about giving their life for their country or for the guy next to them, or about sacrifice in general.Major Combat Ops, BTW, occur when combined forces (air assets, naval assets, armor, infantry, mechanized infantry and special forces) are engaged in combat with the combined forces of an opponent. We are fighting mercinaries and terrorists, the overwhelming majority of which come from other countries such as Iran and Syria. Currently, we lack the political backbone to engage them as they enter Iraq, and to strongly caution other countries to send them there (and more specifically,back up the warning with force if it is ignored).

[spinestein]

[...we had better get off this "inaccurate MSM portrayal of Iraq" horse right now if we have any intention of being credible force in national politics for the foreseeable future.]


With all due respect, this portrayal of the Iraq war as a failure simply because it's difficult, costly and time consuming is immature and naive and based on ignorance resulting from depending on network journalists for news. Spend some time asking the soldiers who are volunteering to fight there whether it's being won and they will, almost to a person, say it is, that the majority of the country is under control and only a minority of problem areas remain and it's just a matter of time before the Iraqis reach a point where they can hold their own without us.

I'm tired of the boneheads on the political left pretending that the millions of Jihadists intent on killing everybody who disagrees with their vision of a worldwide Islamist dictatorship are simply going to go away if we ignore them.

Those on the political right I expect to know better.

[snowrip]

Too much compassionate, not enough conservatism.

Totally. Conservatism is by nature compassionate...

[little jeremiah]

MSM. MSM. And MSM.

And too many finger in the wind eunuch politicians.

[hellbender]

"And BUYING a major news outlet would be the best thing. Conservatives believe in private property - why have we not put our money where our mouth is on this? "

I've watched with dismay while FReepers exulted that the MSM was a dinosaur, that the new electronic media would save us, etc. Too many conservatives have completely abandoned the intellectual sphere in order to make money so they can spoil their kids, engage in escapist entertainment, and dismiss the Leftist intellectuals as a joke. We see this in the behavior of Bush & Cheney (e.g. going hunting on election day). The Left totally dominates the propaganda arena, and it has paid off.

As for Bush's failings, they are more than you admit. I was horrified when, in the immediate wake of 9/11, he told everyone to go out and act normal, spend money, etc. He should have made it clear that we were at war and things would never be quite the same. No more wasteful entitlements, no more pork-barreling, no more nice-guy with domestic traitors like Sandy Burglar, Kerry, and the rest. No more country-clubber "business as usual." But what did anyone expect from someone whose only real life experience was running a baseball team? Sad to say, Bush is really a lightweight. He's performed much better than any Demonrat, but he is no Churchill, which is what we need.

[kabar]

Why the postmortem?? If you take a look at the results from previous 6th year midterms, the 6 year itch, this was hardly the resounding victory that the Dems seem to think it is. Even if there wasn't a war in iraq, and even if this congress hadnt been the laziest, greediest most venal congress we have ever seen, the 6th year midterm should still see the party in opposition take seats.

You are missing the point. We have lost both houses of Congress. It will not be easy to get them back. 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. The power of incumbency is real. It took the Dems 12 years to get back the House.

[TomGuy]

>>>>>But the Republicans won't take that as the message. They'll simply think they weren't liberal enough.<<

It takes a bit of twisted logic to think the election was a lesson for the Republicans to move right rather than left.>>>

Sadly though, they don't seem to have a knack for listening to their base. So I don't have much hope that they will 'get it'.

Yes. The real election was in the local 'side issues'. Eminent domain failed in many states. Issues dealing with Illegals and language hit hard against illegals. Initiatives against gay union were defeated.

The voters were sending a message to Washington -- to both Dems and Pubbies.

[happyhours]

My thoughts

Iraq/Afghanistan: Screw them, we took out the threat, now let them decide how their country is going to be run and I don't care if they hack each other to pieces because we've got an out of control crime problem in our own country that needs attention. Take the oil fields in Iraq and give them to Kuwait. They lost a war, twice, so sorry about that.

Border: Regulate the dam thing finally. Stop this flow of poor masses sucking the tax money out of my pockets. I have my own bills to pay and I don't care if these people eat or not. It won't make me feel any better if I can't afford food for my own table knowing some illegal alien is getting a hot meal while I slave on to foot their bill.

Corruption: OK, so you're a politician, go crawl back into the hole you came out of. Seriously, no special favors for you. The rest of us (except the welfare crowd) in America bust our donkeys day in and day out watching some of you freaks engage in all types of corruption AT OUR EXPENSES. It's sickening to watch some of you crawl out of your perfumed cess pools around election day and try and woo the common peasants who you screw the rest of the year.

Democrats: OK so you they are your political opponent. So what. So what? For the most part, if you don't screw your constituents over for your self promoting fame and glory or to climb the ladder of the political corporation, and flaunt your abuse of powers, you probably won't have a problem getting their vote again.

Press: Stop blaming the press. It's not their fault they want to make money and you give them a good story that will outrage the common people. If you'd simply watch what you did or said once in a while, you probably wouldn't end up looking like a fool.
The press didn't make stories up that weren't true to make sure you didn't get to political office. Most people have what's called a BS meter that can detect certain things.

I want people who are interested in running my country, not making the rest of the screwed up world safe for democracy. Take a look around, most of the world is by choice a dump. And we're well on our way to joining them while it's every politician for themselves.

[little jeremiah]

Hopefully, President Bush will get over his unwillingness to veto legislation and veto the hell out of any left-leaning crap that makes it to his desk.

[teg_76]

"Already the wails of the immigration restrictionists are rising, insisting Republicans lost because they weren't tough on keeping illegal border-crossers out. Not true. The test was in Arizona, where two of the noisiest border hawks, Representatives J.D. Hayworth and Randy Graf, lost House seats. Graf lost in a seat along the Mexican border, where illegal immigrants flock."

Hayworth lost because of Iraq, like every other Republican. I'm so tired of these Weekly Standard bums.

[snowrip]

Agreed.

[kabar]

Fine. Step aside and go off to work on your gardening or something and let people with some ideas and ambition have some room to work.

LOL. And what are your ideas? The Reps have some soul searching to do, but the political reality is that we must now deal with a Dem Congress. It took us 40 years to get control of the House and it will take more than just two years to get it back. Moreover, changing demographics are going to make it more difficult to hold on to what we have. When people like JD Hayworth and Rich Santorum lose, there needs to be some discussion as to what the Party stands for and how can it prevent becoming the permanent minority party.

We can expect the passage of "comprehensive immigration reform" [amnesty and a guest worker program], which will involve the granting of legal status to 12 to 20 million illegal immigrants and open borders for many more. The Dems will have them and their children as part of their core constituency in the future. By 2050, more than 1/4 of our population will be Hispanic.

[little jeremiah]

They lost this election by trying to please everyone, and by falling for the utter fallacy of political correctness.

And the MSM. People get influenced by what they see, hear and read. And most people watch TV. Thank God I've hardly had a TV my entire life.

[snowrip]

Press: Stop blaming the press. It's not their fault they want to make money and you give them a good story that will outrage the common people. If you'd simply watch what you did or said once in a while, you probably wouldn't end up looking like a fool.

Except that ignoring news, telling half the story, or creating news out of thin air is not reporting....it's an attempt to mete out a certain amount of control.

[kabar]

Rove has always been overrated. He almost lost 2004 to the most liberal senator from the most liberal state in the country and a guy who had more baggage than any recent Presidential candidate I have ever seen. If it weren't for the SBVFT, we would have had a President Kerry.

[little jeremiah]

Press: Stop blaming the press. It's not their fault they want to make money and you give them a good story that will outrage the common people.

The "press"/MSM is a wholly owned subsidiary of leftists/liberals/Democrats. That is a problem. It is not insignifant. Sheeple are influenced by what they see, hear and read. Why else would public schools be churning out knaves and idiots who believe leftist crap?

[Vaduz]

SOCIALISM that's the plan just try to stop them and the only thing you will hear from them is suck it.

[kabar]

Well said. The enemy's chief weapon is the IED, usually remotely controlled. The enemy is not operating in any significant sized units and presents no military threat in terms of occupying territory or taking control. The enemy has no real political agenda save toppling the existing government and forcing us out. The only way the enemy wins is to influence domestic policy in the US. If we had more unity at home in support of our efforts, the enemy would realize that their efforts are futile. As long as the Dems give them some glimmer of hope that they will be successful, the attacks on Americans and the Iraqi government will continue.

The idea that nothing has been accomplished is pure MSM/Dem propaganda for domestic political advantage. The very fact that we have trained over 300,000 Iraqi military and police seems not to matter or the thousands of projects to improve the infrastructure beyond what it was prewar are seldom covered. Most of the country is peaceful with the violence limited, for the most part, to three provinces. The reality is that we are winning.

[stacytec]

I agree with little jeremiah. During the primaries the media doesn't matter as much as issues are discussed with people of similar ideological backrounds. In the general elections, we are engaged in information warfare. If you can't get the message out or if the message is being distorted, the other guy wins.