Posted by
Steve on Saturday, November 18, 2006 12:13:56 PM
With the debacle on November 7 and the leadership elections in the last week, one thing is clear, the sky is not falling. Things looked bleak on November 8 and for a few days. But, things are definitely looking up. Are they the best they could be according to me, no. Should they be set up exactly the way I want it? No, things will fall how they will according to the needs of the day.
For example, Mitch McConnell is making sounds like he is exactly the person needed for the Republican leadership position in the Senate. He made comments that lead me to believe that he will lstand tall when looking at judges. He will not bend to the whim of Democrat desires. John McCain is trying to paper over his huge mistake of the Gang of 14. That alliance got some judges through with a minimum of opposition. But, it left the filibuster option still on the table and not decided. That was a monumental mistake. It is one that John McCain will have to own up to before he will be seriously considered for the Republican nomination for President.
Having Trent Lott in the number two position in the Senate is not looking good. He took the opportunity of interviews after his election to bash the Bush administration. That is not the way to show you are a team player. You do not dump on the team leader and then say you are a team player. A team player works to build up the team.
Nancy Pelosi is showing a tin ear for leadership. That looks good for the next two years. If she continues to exhibit the tin ear she is showing now, the House will be Republican in 2008. I doubt that the Democrats will allow her to display the tin ear too much. If it becomes a problem, they will cut her off at the knees and replace her. Democrats are ruthless when it comes time to play the game of politics. Republicans sometimes are not sure that they should get their hands dirty playing politics.
State Republican parties should concentrate on finding candidates to promote in each congressional district that they lost in 2006. If they field strong candidates in all races in 2008, they have an excellent shot at returning to power. Many seats the Democrats took in 2006 were Republican seats. They will be Republican seats again, if the Republicans field credible candidates. Right there, that should just about eliminate the Democrat majority in the House. In the Senate it will be much more difficult to return to the majority until these disasters elected in 2006 are up for reelection. It looks like a divided Senate with one party ruling with a 51-49 advantage will be the order of the day for the next six years.
Long term the Republicans can return to power by 2008, if they get their act together and return to being Republicans. People want to elect Republicans. They do not want to elect Republicans that are trying to be Democrats. Democrats make better Democrats. Republicans make better Republicans. When one tries to be the other, it never works well for long. Voters in districts and states that elected "conservative" Democrats will find that out real soon. They may wish for a do-over of the 2006 elections before too much time has elapsed. That may make it that much easier to recapture the House and the Senate.