Here It Comes
In my judgment, the Senate is gone.
Here come the tax increases, amnesty for illegals, and on Iraq and the war on terror, who knows? The Republicans are going to have their work cut out for them.
Then again, in fairness, so will the Democrats. Now that they control Congress, they'll have to do something more than simply point fingers at The White House.
Big winners on the Republican side? None -- except maybe Eric Cantor, who stands a good chance of assuming a significant post in Senate leadership. And, perhaps, Mitt Romney, who -- given Allen's likely defeat -- now has a strong chance of emerging as the principled conservative's alternative to John McCain. As for McCain himself, if there is no justice -- and he can convince enough Republicans that they need to swallow their distaste for him in order to win the presidency in '08 -- he may actually come out ahead. That's ironic, given that his attacks on conservative principle when it comes to things like judicial nominations, immigration, campaign finance "reform" and even the treatment of terrorist detainees account for a lot of the disgruntlement of the Republican base -- which accounts for losses in seats which otherwise Republicans could have maintained. His self-absorbed shenanigans offered a way for liberals like Claire McCaskill to target a reasonable, hard-working senator like Jim Talent as an "extremist" and a President Bush clone.
On the Democratic side, big winners include Al Gore. The loony left base is going to overinterpret the results of the election as a complete repudiation of all things Republican, and this will help him. At the same time, Hillary Clinton's "moderation" is going to have diminished appeal, given that many Dems will think that they don't need moderation (or a plan, for that matter) in order to win -- making her careful calibrations of the past six years look more like lack of princple than anything else. What's more, her fate is intertwined with Nancy Pelosi's, as -- fairly or not -- everyone is going to look to Pelosi to see how women can handle the biggest leagues of elective politics. Finally, Barack Obama is a winner; he remains the Senate's only African-American, without either Harold Ford as a more moderate Democratic alternative or Michael Steele as a Republican counterpoint.
If there is a bright spot, however, it's that the American people will have two years to see what Democratic rule is about in the run up to the '08 presidential election.
Update: The pro-McCain cheerleading begins apace.
Here come the tax increases, amnesty for illegals, and on Iraq and the war on terror, who knows? The Republicans are going to have their work cut out for them.
Then again, in fairness, so will the Democrats. Now that they control Congress, they'll have to do something more than simply point fingers at The White House.
Big winners on the Republican side? None -- except maybe Eric Cantor, who stands a good chance of assuming a significant post in Senate leadership. And, perhaps, Mitt Romney, who -- given Allen's likely defeat -- now has a strong chance of emerging as the principled conservative's alternative to John McCain. As for McCain himself, if there is no justice -- and he can convince enough Republicans that they need to swallow their distaste for him in order to win the presidency in '08 -- he may actually come out ahead. That's ironic, given that his attacks on conservative principle when it comes to things like judicial nominations, immigration, campaign finance "reform" and even the treatment of terrorist detainees account for a lot of the disgruntlement of the Republican base -- which accounts for losses in seats which otherwise Republicans could have maintained. His self-absorbed shenanigans offered a way for liberals like Claire McCaskill to target a reasonable, hard-working senator like Jim Talent as an "extremist" and a President Bush clone.
On the Democratic side, big winners include Al Gore. The loony left base is going to overinterpret the results of the election as a complete repudiation of all things Republican, and this will help him. At the same time, Hillary Clinton's "moderation" is going to have diminished appeal, given that many Dems will think that they don't need moderation (or a plan, for that matter) in order to win -- making her careful calibrations of the past six years look more like lack of princple than anything else. What's more, her fate is intertwined with Nancy Pelosi's, as -- fairly or not -- everyone is going to look to Pelosi to see how women can handle the biggest leagues of elective politics. Finally, Barack Obama is a winner; he remains the Senate's only African-American, without either Harold Ford as a more moderate Democratic alternative or Michael Steele as a Republican counterpoint.
If there is a bright spot, however, it's that the American people will have two years to see what Democratic rule is about in the run up to the '08 presidential election.
Update: The pro-McCain cheerleading begins apace.
posted by LadybugUSA at 6:42 AM
2 Comments:
If tax increases come to the President's desk, maybe he will finally find his veto pen.
As for this new crop of Democrats... it sounds like some of the old Blue Dog Dems have come back to the forefront. I'll take pro-gun, pro-growth Democrats over northeastern, liberal Republicans ANY day.
We'll see what kind of voice they find in light of the likely Old Leftie committee structure.
All I can say is, you reap what you sow.
I'm prepared for a downturn in our excellent economy here in Colorado. 4.4% unemployment...good bye. They raised the minimum wage, and several small business owners have already said they'll have to let some of the workers go. Thanks for looking out for the little guys Dems...
Ritter has also indicated he'll reinstitute the mandatory PIP on car insurance which had our rates going through the roof until Owen's sunsetted it. It'll make my brother happy, since he's a Chiropractor looking to get some of that Big Government love.
Marriage in Colorado took a traditional stance. Otherwise, I'd have started to look for a new state to move to.
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