Hmmm, so maybe I spoke too soon when I said the Senate was safe.
The Republicans really took a butt-whoopin’. I guess running on no issues, and just plugging away at how awful Iraq is was enough for the Democrats, not to mention having the media pulling for you with story after story slanted in favor of the left. When it came down to it though, I do think Iraq was partially to blame for the losses. I think most of America wanted us to go into Iraq (even the Democrats) but are now wondering what is going to happen. The Democrats and the media played on America’s fears and uncertainty, and that coupled with running more moderate candidates equaled victory. Call me crazy though because I think the Democrats victory making these guys happy is not a good thing.
However, I think the bigger story with the Republicans was the corruption, and the simple fact that they have strayed far away from what they are supposed to stand for – limited government, strong national defense, and family values. The only thing they delivered was lower taxes.
George Allen lost because of a stupid mistake involving the word “macaca”. He trounced Webb in their debate as Webb hardly answered any questions that were asked of him, but I think Virginians saw in Webb a former Reagan ally and someone who didn’t say macaca, and that was enough to sway the votes needed to put him over the top. That’s too bad because Allen has been very good for this state, and we will sorely miss him.
So now there will be all new leadership for conservatives and maybe that’s a good thing. Get back to what you are good at doing. Remember why people elected you in the first place back in 1994. I do believe that Bush and the current Republican Congress have let many conservatives down by expanding the size of the government and introducing new entitlements which we cannot possibly support with our current system. Hopefully the new Republican leadership will get back on track in the next two years so they can somehow recover from this defeat in 2008.
But you know what you haven’t seen? Hordes of Republicans screaming for recounts like the Democrats have done after the previous three national elections. Anyone notice the media scouring the countryside for disenfranchised voters as they’ve done in the past after Democrat defeats? Where are the cries of racism and hanging chads from the Republicans? There are none, because Republicans are gracious in defeat and know when they’ve been beat. There are no John Kerrys in the Republican party that embarass themselves by dragging out election decisions for days and weeks, and thank God for that.
Mark my words though, the Democrats will try to impeach Bush. There will be investigations aplenty as nothing gets done by the Democrats next year except wasting taxpayer money. And hopefully Bush will get to use his veto power for the first time as a Democratic Congress gets started on their own liberal agenda. Thank goodness Bush already got his Supreme Court nominees confirmed.
Maybe this is like how sometimes it’s good for the undefeated #1 team to lose right before the NCAA tournament, and now Republicans will regroup, lick their wounds, and come back with a vengeance in 2008. Only God knows for sure, and we all know which way He would vote.
