This was a historic election, to say the least. I would be naive to not recognize the special significance this has for not only African Americans, but for the rest of the population as well. This election was tough for Republicans, a rebuff to conservative policy of the past. That is a good thing for Republicans.
This election brought about the final swing in Democratic party gains. We see it happen cyclically every six to 12 years, and we will certainly see it again. Let’s look at a few aspects of this election. First, obviously, is the presidency. Few expected Republicans to be victorious, no matter who the candidates were. It was not an overwhelming victory compared to those that took place under Ronald Reagan or even Richard Nixon. John McCain was outspent, outcampaigned, outcovered by the media, and ran in a year that saw the lowest Republican approval in history. Somehow he picked up 47 percent of the United States, down only 4 percent from Bush’s second term popular vote of 51 percent.
In the Senate, Democrats missed their magical 60 votes by quite a few. In Oregon, Jeff Merkley outspent Gordon Smith but is currently trailing Smith in votes. Republicans are holding onto three other races. If Smith loses, Republicans still have the power to block one-party rule. Additionally, only one governor’s race in the country went to the Democrats, and in Washington the Republican only lost by 2 percent.
Liberal policies weren’t more attractive than conservative ones. Simply put, both parties pursued liberal policies. Republicans didn’t argue for the policies that elected them in the past. They believed those policies would not be elected. This is veritably untrue. It was not the policies, but the GOP and the candidates who didn’t live up to what they said they would do.
Two years from now, Republicans will regain the ground they lost Tuesday night. Across the country, Democrats took seats they cannot hold onto. In Oregon, the Democrats who won three House seats admitted that without Obama at the top of the ticket, it would be hard to hold onto these seats.
The most important thing for Republicans to understand is that losses were minimal in this election.
Conservative ballot measures had huge success nationwide. Five states, including the liberal-leaning California, banned gay marriage. Three states put a stop to Affirmative Action. The courts are still controlled by a 62 percent conservative majority. Obama will likely not be able to change that in four years. In Oregon, Measure 64, which bans unions from giving money to candidates, was passed. In two years, all of those state races Democrats picked up with large union funding will be fair and Republicans will have an even starting line.
Democrats, I congratulate you. We didn’t live up to our end of the bargain. You have the voter registration edge in your favor now, but you and I both know more Americans label themselves as ideologically conservative than liberal. It is only a matter of time until we return. You control all branches of government now. In two years if you don’t live up to your promises, if Obama can’t get us out of Iraq in 16 months, if he cannot give us universal health care, if this new Congress cannot solve our economic problems, change will come. And this time it will be you who promised too much and delivered too little.
[email protected]