There’s so much angst by some conservatives in the comments and blogs about “what the Democrats will do”, I’ve been at a loss to respond to it. The very few comments here since Tuesday (is everybody still hungover?) have contained some of this angst, but they’ve been nothing compared to the fear-laden emails I’ve received.
While I’m honored that you’ve shared your fears with me, I’m really a bit concerned for you. Please, breathe slowly for a minute. Get a massage… relax and let your mind re-engage.
Perhaps this Charles Krauthammer piece will help my conservative friends:
The public’s views on what we ought to do with the war remain mixed, as do its general ideological inclinations. What happened on Tuesday? The electorate threw the bums out in disgust with corruption and in deep dissatisfaction with Iraq policy. Reading much more into this election is a symptom of either Republican depression or Democratic wishful thinking.
The reasons the voters decided to “throw the bums out”, of course, vary widely. However, while Krauthammer (and others) see a more conservative political world in both hemispheres, there’s little mention made of something I’ve heard everywhere: a desire for bipartisanship, and a return to Congressional oversight.
Or… as the Barrister writes in a wonderful piece about ideological purity… we want pragmatists.
That is why I was offended when a conservative Repub challenged liberal Republican Chaffee in RI, and I have no doubt that the damage from the primary is why Chaffee lost reelection: the controversy interfered with his quietly winning as people named Chaffee tend to do in RI, like people named Kennedy in MA. And this is why I was offended by Lamont’s primary challenge to Lieberman. Both of those challenges were done on the grounds of ideological purity, as if motivated by Stalinist party-line doctrine.
That is silly, and self-destructive: it’s a big country, with many points of view on things (and anyone who disagrees with me is, of course, also Wrong Wrong Wrong).
America is a majority conservative, tradition-respecting country, but above all, it is a pragmatic country. DeToqueville figured out, a long time ago, that pragmatism was a big part of our genius as a nation.
I don’t think we’re going to be yanking the troops out of Iraq tomorrow; there simply isn’t majority support for that. There is support for a change in strategy.
I do expect there to be a strong push for spending controls, and that’s a good thing. We’ve had far too many years of “How can I be out of money? I still have checks!” thinking on Capitol Hill. That’s funny when it’s a blonde joke… but not when it’s our government.
Will there be an increase in taxes? I expect so, but it won’t just be because of new programs… unless people really think the porky commitments already signed will be funded by the fiscal fairies? (That’s another conversation altogether…)
And yes, we should expect a number of congressional inquiries — particularly into the Iraqi rebuilding contractors and reconstruction funds. Does that worry you? If it does, then perhaps you’ve forgotten that oversight is part of Congress’ job; it’s what they were supposed to do all along.
Seriously. Calm down; you’re in danger of fainting from all the hyperventilation.
Nobody’s sharpening knives to carve up your babies. (At least, I’m pretty sure about that…)
I didn’t look cosely at the Chaffee race (but was schocked he lost). I don’t think its’ fair to paint Lamont with such a devilish moustache. Lamont went after Lieberman specifically on the war, not out of some quasi-Stalinist vendetta for ideological purity.
Nope, not hungover. I was praying the election would actually be a turning point.
It is unfortunate that a moderate like Chaffee got caught up in this whole thing but perhaps one of the miscalculations of the Republican party was how “red” the country really was. While this country is more conservative than many nations, it is not as conservative as conservatives would like to believe it is. I have no more evidence to offer than my years living in the midwest, west coast, east coast and gulf coast.
Republicans must (and given their rhetoric, they do) realize that 9/11 pushed America as a whole toward the right. Such a shift was bound to be temporary.
Democrats must realize that they did not win the election, the Republicans lost it. No one event (Tom Delay, Mark Foley, Reverand Haggard, Iraq, deficiets, Rush Limbaugh, etc) caused the downfall. It was a cummulative affect. Is it a repudiation of conservative principles? Not necessarily. But it was a repudiation of current policies and Republican excesses.
There is much more to be written and many leasons to be learned by both sides. The winner of the next election will be the side that learns best.
Alcee Hastings