Election
People who complain that “divided government” never gets anything done just don’t understand the underpinnings of democracy. Thank goodness that Arnold was re-elected. That from a hard-core liberal. Anytime one party controls all of the branches of government democracy ceases. I voted for Arnold. I admit that I might have been holding my nose at the time, but before I am a liberal or a Democrat I am an American and believe in the tenants of the Constitution, which clearly lays out the principals of divided government as the only way a democracy works. Yes, I am thrilled that we have thrown out the Republican control of the Congress, both houses was an amazing accomplishment. For those fiscally conservative Republicans among you, remember this: Currently, the Democrats are the party of fiscal control. Scary, isn’t it. Give the new Congress some time and, if the Decider-in-Chief can route out the rest of the idiot Neo-Cons and return to the bipartisan way he governed in Texas, his legacy may just be saved, along with the country.
Ed St.Amour
Mesa Verde
The recent election is, to say the least, disconcerting to Republican stalwarts. Absent a “star power” candidate (with any apparent commitment to conservative principles), it appears that the California GOP has been relegated to permanent minority status.
The time has come for Republicans to consider “recalibrating” their message.
It’s not that the average voter takes issue with the party’s core values of limited government, fiscal restraint and family values. It’s just that most Californians are more concerned with “quality of life” issues that affect their daily lives, such as adequate jobs, affordable healthcare, traffic gridlock and workplace fairness.
Except for mass transit (where more government spending is sorely needed), Republicans should support public policy initiatives focusing on private sector and faith-based solutions to these and other issues.
It also would be refreshing for candidates to follow through on campaign promises, and for elected representatives to work together on a bipartisan basis to shape solutions for the common good. It doesn’t take rocket science to understand that voters have had it with political posturing and rhetoric, and having to vote on complex issues that our elected representatives are paid to resolve.
There may yet be hope for the California GOP if it can just come to realize these obvious facts.
William M. Crosby, Esq.
Barnes, Crosby, FitzGerald & Zeman LLP
Irvine
Actually, the Democrats
did
win.
“The Democrats didn’t win, the Republicans lost,” is the latest, reaffirming mantra offered to conservatives from the likes of Rush Limbaugh, Bill O’Reilly, Tom Delay, Bill Bennett and the usual lineup of Republican apologetes and politico-evangelists from Fox News and the right-wing media.
Ironic, I say. Because this display is so … un-American. Imagine a losing coach of any sports team in the U.S. who would dare proclaim that their opponents hadn’t won the game. Sour-grapes un-sportsmanship is even worse than cheap shots and dirty play. And there was plenty of that this election season.
Speaking of irony: Amy Poehler on Saturday Night Live said it wonderfully a couple of weeks ago:
“In an ironic turnaround, Iraq brought regime change to the U.S.”
For those who are convinced that the pulse of American polity and ideology is regulated simply by what conservatives do or don’t do,at the voting booths or in the legislatures,isn’t this the kind of political solipsism that makes Poehler’s SNL one-liner a rather profound, if not historical, epigram?
The Republicans lost, soundly, not because conservatives en masse decided this year to repudiate their leaders (Why now? Did they really decide to absolutely rout Rick Santorum?). Nor was it because Bush bounced Rumsfeld a week late, and not because voters forgot that a vote for a Democrat was a vote for Osama Bin Laden.
They lost for more reasons than they can understand. Conservatives need to look carefully at what happened with the phenomenon that is YouTube (and the Internet, for that matter; with thanks to Al Gore). They ought to watch less Fox News and, instead, laugh along with “The Daily Show.” It’s time for them to see Limbaugh and his ilk for what they are,bullies in a culture of scorn and intimidation, as millions of Americans recently witnessed. They should listen to average citizens everywhere who are truly concerned, with good cause, about our environment and the health of our children,and accept that neo-conservatism and the failure of its moralistic ideology has been the evolutionary byproduct of unchecked political power and ambition.
The rebuilt Democratic Party and its many support groups, such as MoveOn, were instrumental in urging and pushing along, in all 50 states, the national wave against the GOP. Iraq has been just one of many catalysts. Fundamentalism, of various stripes, has been another.
What happened, what is happening, is a bellwether for America,of real changing national moods, greater than and irrespective of the whims of the conservatives.
Paul Lobato
Huntington Beach
CNN’s Lou Dobbs succinctly said it:
“I don’t believe for even a moment that the Democrats’ ideals prevailed over Republican ideals. Election Day was middle-class America’s declaration of independence from a Republican-led administration and Congress that for six years has been telling working men and women and their families in this country to shut up, listen up and go to hell.”
“The middle class just returned the favor and demonstrated discernment while delivering their loud message to Washington, D.C.”
I’ve always carped, “We moderates, the silent majority people of Americans (both Democrat and Republican),when we are tired of the crazies at either end, we actually can act. In the past six years, the Republican Party had the finest opportunity to strut their stuff and all they could do was to spend more of our money then ever, and get caught lying, stealing and cheating on a unprecedented basis. This isn’t yahoo for Democrats,this is restoring checks and balances.
Barry M. Gold
