It now appears certain that Republicans will gain control over at least one house of congress and maybe both. What can we expect from them in this new political environment, and how might their behavior differ from the behavior of Democrats after the 2008 elections?
1. Whatever their margin of victory, Republicans will proclaim they have a mandate for great change and act accordingly. They won’t compromise. They won’t desperately seek bi-partisanship. They will say that voters put them in a powerful position in order to make changes, big changes, do so quickly and not dawdle. The Democrats, after their huge 2008 victory, didn’t do any of these things.
2. The Republicans will use every media at their disposal to make any opposition to their policies appear as nasty obstructionism of the people’s will. The Democrats were too busy making deals with anyone who might help them, just might help them, could conceivable help them, to bother with that sort of hard-edged but effective politics.
3. Democrats have their group of vested interests tied to their party just as the Republicans do. The new Republican majority in one house of congress or both will flagrantly, unashamedly and copiously advance the interests and beliefs of these prime supporters, and damn the other guys. The Democrats played footsy with the Republicans’ traditional supporters and short-changed their own, and now seem amazed that their usual backers lack enthusiasm.
4. The Republicans’ 2012 election campaign will begin on November 3 of this year, a few hours after the last vote is counted. Democrats, for their part, will be so traumatized, confused, and anxious to blame each other for the midterm results, their own 2012 campaigning will be lucky to begin in 2012.
Here’s the simple truth of the matter. Democrats at the national level can sometimes win elections, but they can’t govern effectively afterward. Republicans do know how to govern after they gain the power to do so.
I don’t buy into the Ralph Nader pitch that there’s not a whit of difference between Republicans and Democrats. There’s not as much difference as there should be. A party of the left should at least lean left once in awhile. But the difference is still big enough that I will again pull the Democratic lever this time around.
But not out of gratitude for the governance that the Democrats have given this country since they had such a glorious opportunity after the 2008 elections. I’ll vote Democratic this one more time, and hope a third party alternative with some guts, some ideals, and a genuine progressive concern for the middle class and poor, somehow manages to arise from the Democratic ash pile.
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