Is it over yet?
Yes, and it was some ride. No, not Tuesday’s midterm election, but the last 12 years during which Republicans dominated the House of Representatives and the last four years as they dominated the Senate.
Why did Republicans lose so astoundingly Tuesday night?
Some say Republicans abandoned their base, turning their backs on principles like small government, creating bloated entitlements like the Medicare Prescription Drug Act. National Republicans also turned into pork-laden oafs. Ironically, they were called out by conservative bloggers, and the result was a bill called the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act. Good move, but too little, too late.
Others say it was the scandals, ala Republican Mark Foley’s fondness forteenaged boys, and the failure of House leadership. Once seen as the more ethical party, Republicans became mired in a series of embarrassing ethical lapses. Perhaps it was an outright rejection of President George W. Bush and the Iraq war, or a spate of negative campaigning.
According to a CNN exit poll, it appeared to be a combination of some of the above. Forty-two percent of voters considered corruption and ethics “extremely important,” followed by terrorism at 40 percent, the economy at 39 percent, Iraq at 37 percent, values at 36 percent, and illegal immigration at 29 percent.
So why did voters reject Republican politicians while supporting “conservative” initiatives like the homosexual “marriage” ban? The referendum appeared on the ballots in eight states, and seven approved it. Arizona rejected the ban but passed anti-illegal alien measures — another “conservative” issue —by landslides. Arizonians voted to establish English as the official language of the state and to bar illegal aliens from taxpayer-funded adult education classes and child care assistance, and in-state tuition at public colleges and universities.
In Michigan, voters re-elected Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow and rejected her Republican challenger Mike Bouchard. But they also rejected the state’s use of race in public hiring and admissions. Property rights measures were passed on Tuesday, and Republican Congressman Tom Tancredo, hard-line, pro-immigration enforcement, thorn-in-the-side to Democrats and open-border Republicans, easily won re-election.
Republican politicians may have been ousted, but conservative policies prevailed, particularly the ban on so-called same sex marriage. Something similar happened during the 2004 presidential election. In response to a Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruling declaring the state’s ban on homosexual “marriage” unconstitutional, all 11 states with measures protecting marriage passed those measures, including states that [former presidential candidate] Sen. John Kerry won.
Despite clearly supporting certain conservative ideals, voting Americans rejected the men behind the policies.
Blogger Bill Whittle of Eject! Eject! Eject! put an inspiring spin on Republican losses: “I wish to tell my friends to be cheerful and especially to be of good will. Disappointments come and go, but moments of courage and integrity in dark hours will be there when the stars grow cold. We have lost the election, so let us maintain our determination, our dignity and our sense of humor, and let us take this moment to reflect upon how our actions have fallen short of our ideals. And then, finally, let’s act like the Americans we are, roll up our sleeves and start rebuilding. We who have survived the Civil War, the Nazis and the Communists can probably manage to find a way to preserve the Republic in the face of Speaker Pelosi.”
Our system of government has its problems, but it’s still the best around. Democrats wanted their chance to govern, now they have it. Campaigning for 2008 begins —now.
La Shawn Barber is a member of The Examiner’s Blog Board of Contributors and blogs at www.lashawnbarber.com.
