The Moose counsels the elephant and donkey not to deceive themselves.
Even before election day, the Republican spin-machine has been launched. "This was just a normal six year itch election", they say. "In 1986, even the Reagan-led GOP lost the Senate", they suggest. And so on and so on.
That is all true and beside the point. These Republicans resemble Linda Blair's 360 degree head spin in the Exorcist. With apologies to Borat - throw the partisan spinners down the well.
Republicans evisioned that they would at least match the forty-year Democratic control over the House that they upended in 1994. The GOP fervently believed that the Democrats would at least spend as much time wandering in the wilderness as the ancient Hebrews. The right suggested that a conservative revolution was underway. The right was in the ascendancy. After all, conservative leaders were in charge of the Executive, Legislative and Judicial branches of government.
The truth is that conservatism was corrupted by power. The right violated all of their limited government principles in the pursuit and maintenance of their perks. And a conservative Administration proved devastatingly incompetent in the management of a war. And so the voters appear on the verge of rejecting conservative leadership.
Of course, Democrats must be cautious about over-interpreting the election. Moreover, it is still possible but not likely that the party will not match the expectations for a blowout. While a Democratic victory will clearly be a rejection of the Administration's war management, that does not mean the electorate is willing to accept a defeat in Iraq. And there is no evidence that there is any significant ideological shift. Indeed, one recent poll showed that voters want the government to do less rather than more.
The only remaining question is whether the electorate will take a chance on the Democrats. And if they are given the opportunity to gain some power, will the donkey more responsibly govern than the failed elephant?
The American public is looking for problem solvers and not polarizers. Before the Mooseketeers go to the polls tomorrow, they will be well-served by reading this excellent speech that was delivered yesterday by Joe Lieberman - here.
Joe put it well,
"During the last six years our country has paid a terrible price for polarization. By an administration that too often took a - my way or the highway - approach and missed too many opportunities to reach out across the aisle to try to solve our country's most serious problems - and for a Democratic leadership in Congress that too often responded with hard partisanship of its own.
"The result? Too little progress on those serious problems - like the threat of global terror, the exploding national debt, growing pressures on the middle class and widening income inequality, our broken health care system, and new economic challenges from new competitors abroad.
"There is just no way to meet those big challenges unless we can resist the pull of partisanship and find ways to work together for the good of the country. That means electing fewer polarizers and more problem-solvers."
Bully! -- | 
Email
this post
