GasBandit
Staff member
So here we are, the proverbial morning after. More seats changed parties this election than in any since 1948, the Republicans picking up more seats than they even did in 1994.
But what does all this mean?
Let's not forget that the first reason they could pick up so many seats in the first place is because they've been trampled so heavily for the last 4 years. For a brief period, the Democrats even had a filibuster-proof majority and it was only internecine squabbling that kept them from enacting every piece of legislation their heart desired while the Republicans wallowed in irrelevancy.
And why were Republicans so withered during that period? Because of their behavior while in power from about 1995 onward. Because they forgot who they were (or at least who they purported to be) and started bloating government and spending faster than even a Democrat would have thought inadvisable... putting aside for a moment that since 06 Democrats, having seen what Republicans could get away with, went on to triple down on expenditure and centralization.
Republicans won big because they'd previously lost big. And really, how big have they won? They don't have a majority in the senate (though the Democrat control is as tenuous as it can get). The pendulum didn't swing ALL the way back in the House either - the specter of filibuster is ever present in congress and the Republicans didn't get enough seats to be filibuster-proof, so it seems the gold medal agenda item from their platform (the repeal of ObamaCare) is probably just a pipe dream unless they suddenly grow a spine and bully some Democrats into recanting... which to put it mildly, is not something Republicans are known for.
It's proven historic precedent that the midterms usually go against the party who previously won the presidency. That it went in that direction to such a degree is noteworthy, even if tempered by the fact that the end result is a return to legislative stalemate, for a number of factors. The first is that even many of the seats the Democrats retained, it was a lot closer than it should have been. Vilified tea-party candidate Sharron Angle came within 5 percent of sending House Majority Leader Harry Reid home, for example. There are many other elections that came out that way - with the Democrat holding on by the skin of their teeth. Some southern seats were taken by Republicans for the first time since Reconstruction. Additionally, the GOP took Gubernatorial elections away from Democrats in Wyoming, Oregon, Maine, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Kansas, New Mexico, and kept Jan Brewer now officially in the seat vacated by Janet Napolitano when called to service by President Obama. While tempered by Democrat victories in California, Vermont, Minnesota and Connecticut, it's still a telling push toward the red... or rather, away from the blue.
Because therein lies the true rub - America has pulled a Darth Vader. This isn't a ringing endorsement of Republicans - it's the slaying of Admiral Ozzel and promoting the Republican standing next to him. The American public is still wary of the Republicans, and rightly so. If the GOP lets this go to their head and starts channeling Dick Cheney, saying "This is our due so F%$# off with all that talk about dangerous deficits," they very well could end up right back out in the cold in 2012, and solidify Barack Obama's re-election campaign.
And there's more than budgetary concerns, even if the Economy is still the number one issue, or perhaps because of it. They need to get over their hangups about gay marriage and gays in the military. They need to drop the evolution/creation in schools argument, because it will go nowhere and do nothing for them. This is not the time to push a neocon social agenda, if there ever even is one at all. They need to concede most of the social issues to what the vast majority of the country considers to be common sense, and focus on getting the Economy moving again, mostly by demonstrating to small business and big corporate interests alike that the winter is over and they can start hiring again - mostly by trying, even if futilely, to remove the roadblocks and pit traps set in place by the Democrats over the last 4 years. And that includes a precluded attempt to repeal Obamacare. It won't work, but it will show business that those in power in Washington no longer want their scalp and are willing to go to bat for them, even if they can't repair all the damage. Serious spending cuts also need to be made... and we'll see if the buoyancy of this electoral victory gives Republicans the spine to do what needs to be done... or if it just bloats their heads and makes them forget, yet again, why they were sent to Washington.
But what does all this mean?
Let's not forget that the first reason they could pick up so many seats in the first place is because they've been trampled so heavily for the last 4 years. For a brief period, the Democrats even had a filibuster-proof majority and it was only internecine squabbling that kept them from enacting every piece of legislation their heart desired while the Republicans wallowed in irrelevancy.
And why were Republicans so withered during that period? Because of their behavior while in power from about 1995 onward. Because they forgot who they were (or at least who they purported to be) and started bloating government and spending faster than even a Democrat would have thought inadvisable... putting aside for a moment that since 06 Democrats, having seen what Republicans could get away with, went on to triple down on expenditure and centralization.
Republicans won big because they'd previously lost big. And really, how big have they won? They don't have a majority in the senate (though the Democrat control is as tenuous as it can get). The pendulum didn't swing ALL the way back in the House either - the specter of filibuster is ever present in congress and the Republicans didn't get enough seats to be filibuster-proof, so it seems the gold medal agenda item from their platform (the repeal of ObamaCare) is probably just a pipe dream unless they suddenly grow a spine and bully some Democrats into recanting... which to put it mildly, is not something Republicans are known for.
It's proven historic precedent that the midterms usually go against the party who previously won the presidency. That it went in that direction to such a degree is noteworthy, even if tempered by the fact that the end result is a return to legislative stalemate, for a number of factors. The first is that even many of the seats the Democrats retained, it was a lot closer than it should have been. Vilified tea-party candidate Sharron Angle came within 5 percent of sending House Majority Leader Harry Reid home, for example. There are many other elections that came out that way - with the Democrat holding on by the skin of their teeth. Some southern seats were taken by Republicans for the first time since Reconstruction. Additionally, the GOP took Gubernatorial elections away from Democrats in Wyoming, Oregon, Maine, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Kansas, New Mexico, and kept Jan Brewer now officially in the seat vacated by Janet Napolitano when called to service by President Obama. While tempered by Democrat victories in California, Vermont, Minnesota and Connecticut, it's still a telling push toward the red... or rather, away from the blue.
Because therein lies the true rub - America has pulled a Darth Vader. This isn't a ringing endorsement of Republicans - it's the slaying of Admiral Ozzel and promoting the Republican standing next to him. The American public is still wary of the Republicans, and rightly so. If the GOP lets this go to their head and starts channeling Dick Cheney, saying "This is our due so F%$# off with all that talk about dangerous deficits," they very well could end up right back out in the cold in 2012, and solidify Barack Obama's re-election campaign.
And there's more than budgetary concerns, even if the Economy is still the number one issue, or perhaps because of it. They need to get over their hangups about gay marriage and gays in the military. They need to drop the evolution/creation in schools argument, because it will go nowhere and do nothing for them. This is not the time to push a neocon social agenda, if there ever even is one at all. They need to concede most of the social issues to what the vast majority of the country considers to be common sense, and focus on getting the Economy moving again, mostly by demonstrating to small business and big corporate interests alike that the winter is over and they can start hiring again - mostly by trying, even if futilely, to remove the roadblocks and pit traps set in place by the Democrats over the last 4 years. And that includes a precluded attempt to repeal Obamacare. It won't work, but it will show business that those in power in Washington no longer want their scalp and are willing to go to bat for them, even if they can't repair all the damage. Serious spending cuts also need to be made... and we'll see if the buoyancy of this electoral victory gives Republicans the spine to do what needs to be done... or if it just bloats their heads and makes them forget, yet again, why they were sent to Washington.
