Republicans want to cast yesterday's election as a sign that the fortunes of the Democrats have changed, as proof they've over-reached.
I'm not so confident of that interpretation.
Virginia Republicans may have run as conservatives, but they did so on state issues. NJ's Christie, a more moderate Republican, probably won on the "I'm not Corzine" platform, but the issues there were also state issues. If this translates to national politics, it does so with caveats and modifications.
The only national-level race was New York's 23rd Congressional distict where a historically Republican district elected a Democrat.
Now, there were mitigating circumstances. Three-way races are always difficult, and the GOP helpfully ran a "Republican" who was to the left of the Democratic candidate — positioning the Dem as the "moderate" candidate that may appeal to swing voters.
But with everything going on in the country right now, the good folks of NY-23 decided to send another Democrat to Washington. If it's not a clear vindication of the Dems, it's certainly not good news for the GOP.
I frankly don't think it means all that much, but I don't want Republicans to look at the state races in Virginia and New Jersey and decide the 2010 elections are a slam dunk.
Showing posts with label GOP. Show all posts
Showing posts with label GOP. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Thursday, April 30, 2009
100 Days of Obama 2: The GOP
The last election saw the Republican party beat down, cussed out, and given a wedgie by the electorate. And it was all well deserved. The party of the Contract with America became just like the party it had deposed. After the election, pundits spent a lot of energy and ink on what they need to do to return from the wasteland.
Did they listen? Signs suggest they might have done just that. The Republicans in Congress have worked hard to not just oppose but to counter-propose on just about every issue that's come up. They offered a different vision on the stimulus and on the budget and at least tried to have a conversation about the bailouts. Not that any of it had any impact.
Meanwhile some Republican governors have tried to highlight the difference in their approach to governing from the Washington Democrats by refusing at least some of the "stimulus" money offered to states. That's putting your money where your mouth is. And it will probably cost at least one of them his job.
Has it done any good? Not really. First, the media pays little attention to out-of-power Republicans. If their counter-proposals get no air time, they will be of little use. They're going to have to figure out a way to get their message out despite that. Of course, this is the age of the alternative media -- Fox, Drudge, blogs, twitter, etc; they should be able to make some headway, but they've got a lot of work to do.
Second, when they call the president or congressional Democrats on spending, the voters will rightly think them hypocrits. They are going to have to work very hard to earn back the people's trust -- or wait for the Dems to make such a mess of things that people are ready to vote for anyone who isn't a Democrat.
In the meantime, they should take every opportunity to remind the voters -- and the president -- of Mr. Obama's promises of bipartisanship. Of course it was just a campaign promise, but there are a lot of people who need to learn that Barack Obama is just another politician.
I give them a C+ for lots of effort with little results.
Did they listen? Signs suggest they might have done just that. The Republicans in Congress have worked hard to not just oppose but to counter-propose on just about every issue that's come up. They offered a different vision on the stimulus and on the budget and at least tried to have a conversation about the bailouts. Not that any of it had any impact.
Meanwhile some Republican governors have tried to highlight the difference in their approach to governing from the Washington Democrats by refusing at least some of the "stimulus" money offered to states. That's putting your money where your mouth is. And it will probably cost at least one of them his job.
Has it done any good? Not really. First, the media pays little attention to out-of-power Republicans. If their counter-proposals get no air time, they will be of little use. They're going to have to figure out a way to get their message out despite that. Of course, this is the age of the alternative media -- Fox, Drudge, blogs, twitter, etc; they should be able to make some headway, but they've got a lot of work to do.
Second, when they call the president or congressional Democrats on spending, the voters will rightly think them hypocrits. They are going to have to work very hard to earn back the people's trust -- or wait for the Dems to make such a mess of things that people are ready to vote for anyone who isn't a Democrat.
In the meantime, they should take every opportunity to remind the voters -- and the president -- of Mr. Obama's promises of bipartisanship. Of course it was just a campaign promise, but there are a lot of people who need to learn that Barack Obama is just another politician.
I give them a C+ for lots of effort with little results.
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