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November 08, 2006

What It All Means: An Independent's View

Today, Republicans and Democrats are both making statements about what the elections yesterday mean and don't mean. As I read through them, I hear a lot of wishful thinking, of people desperately holding on to what they want to believe and refusing to see what really happened. As an Independent, I probably am guilty of a fair bit of wishful thinking myself, but I'm going to give you my opinion of what it all means anyway. And, like everyone else, I fully believe I am correct.

Turn out was a big factor, in my opinion. I think Democrats had every reason to come to the polls, and come they did (that is why state legislatures and governorships across the country moved heavily Democratic). And I think Republicans, particularly Christian Republicans, had every reason NOT to be enthused about voting this year and may very well have stayed home or voted for third party candidates. Not only has Republican corruption become unbearable to watch, but in addition to the fact that Republicans never accomplished any of what they promised Christians they would do, Bush and his Administration were recently revealed as actually deriding the Christian community behind their backs. But if anyone expected Christians to turn en masse to Democrats as a result of that, they don't understand this group of people at all.

It's been humorous to hear the Republicans spinning the results when we all know exactly what happened. People don't like the way the War is going and they're sick of the corruption, so they voted for a change of direction. Ken Mehlman, Chair of the RNC, told Republicans, "I think the American people clearly sent a message, and it's a message we need to understand and we need to listen to." He's right about that. But I'm not really sure he "got" the voters' message. He says voters told Republicans to do three things:

1. Rededicate themselves to their "conservative reform principles." If he means true conservatism, as eloquently spelled out by the Kirk Center, then he may be onto something, generally. But this will not happen if the Republican Party continues to allow the religious right to dictate the specific implementation of the great conservative philosophy. That is obvious if look at the fact that voters rejected key right-wing ballot measures in conservative South Dakota (abortion ban) and conservative Arizona (gay marriage ban), and approved stem cell research in conservative Missouri.

2. Try to work on a bipartisan basis with Democrats. There is no "try" about it. Voters do want the parties to work together. They understand that each brings important insights to the table. Americans tend to agree with both parties on certain issues. They want a balance of power and they want all their representatives to work through the issues for the good of the country.

3. Lose the taint of corruption. We are far less concerned about the "taint" of corruption than the actual corruption. Republicans have needed to clean house for a long time. They wouldn't do it, so the voters just did it for them.

I think Marty Kaplan at The Huffington Post hit the nail square on the head. The Republicans lost because they left the center behind.

The center is not where the Republican Party has been, and not where they have moved it. The center is not the average of Orrin Hatch and Hillary Clinton. The center is not Joe Lieberman. The center is where most of the country actually is, right now. Don't listen to the gasbags and the losers. Look at the exit polls.

The center is opposition to Bush Iraq policy, opposition to Bush dismantling Social Security, opposition to Republican earmarking, opposition to the Bush transfer of wealth from the middle to the top, opposition to the politicization of science, opposition to wedge-issue culture wars. The center's platform is accountability, competence, pay-as-you-go, constitutional civil liberties, affordable health care, living wages, a planet that's not dying, and a response to terrorism that doesn't create more of it.

Please, Democrats, now that you have all this power don't make the same mistake the Republicans made. Don't move all the way over to the left and leave the center behind. We're putting what little remains of our hope in you to set things right again and bring balance back to government. Work with conservatives and find the happy middle ground where America can flourish and we can start worrying again about silly trifles like Brittney Spears divorce announcement.

Posted by Becky at November 8, 2006 11:29 AM