GOP Rolls, Dems Routed!

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GOP Rolls, Dems Routed!
by Bob Webster, Editor-at-Large, OpinioNet

November 6, 2002

Nobody expected it. Not even Republicans imagined the breadth and depth of their rout of Democrat candidates in these interim elections for control of Congress. The stunning magnitude of Republican House and Senate victories overtook the nation's consciousness this morning as dawn's light emerged from the darkness of night. Nowhere was the rout more pronounced than in the Senate, where Tom Daschle's "politics of obstructionism" were resoundingly repudiated. As of this writing, Republicans are assured a minimum of 51 Senate seats, with two additional seats a distinct possibility (Louisiana and South Dakota).

While analysts and spindoctors will spend considerable time pouring over these results in an attempt to identify key factors responsible for the drubbing Democrat candidates suffered, certain fairly obvious conclusions that we can draw from these results are evident this morning:

1. The oft-repeated cry of "foul" over the 2000 Florida election results sounds very hollow this morning. Staunch Gore supporters have continued to claim the 2000 election was "stolen" by president Bush and predicted that governor Jeb Bush would pay the price. Such claims have been soundly repudiated by the Florida electorate, where Jeb Bush not only won, but won handily while other Florida Republicans enjoyed sweeping victories across the state in both congressional and state legislative battles. Not the least of Republican victories in Florida was that of the election to Congress of former Secretary of State Katherine Harris who was a key object of Gore supporters' hatred for her role in upholding Florida law during the 2000 election. It's time for the sore losers to get a grip on reality and move on.

2. In New Jersey the unlawful actions of politically-motivated state justices was once again demonstrated in an election for federal office. Less than a month before the election, when the Democrat candidate was sinking rapidly in the polls, New Jersesy's state supreme court did its best impression of the Florida supreme court by ignoring state law and allowing the clearly illegal ballot substitution of the elderly Frank Lautenberg for Democrat candidate Toricelli. What Lautenberg failed to consider was that his tainted victory will now require him to serve as a junior senator in a GOP-dominated Senate for the next six years! A more fitting punishment for the underhanded political manipulation to which he was a party is hard to imagine.

3. Perhaps the sweetest of victories was earned by Senator-elect Norm Coleman in Minnesota who defeated former Senator Mondale, another political dinosaur who was expected to easily win the senate seat that had been held by Paul Wellstone before Wellstone's tragic death within a few weeks before the election. It's hard to imagine the crass display of political opportunism demonstrated by Democrats at the Wellstone memorial-turned-political-rally had no effect on this result. The image of the Clintons, Gores, Daschles, etc., beaming ear-to-ear, clapping, stomping and cheering for political victory at what was to be a non-political memorial to a man whose untimely death was being mourned must have been etched deeply into the mind of the Minnesota electorate. The depth of that gross manifestation of incivility may well have influence other races across the country. Perhaps we should all thank those Democrat politicians for so clearly demonstrating a dark side of their highly political nature.

4. Only in Arkansas, where fidelity in marriage appears to have finally caught on, was a Republican incumbent the loser. This GOP loss was more a renouncement of the personal behavior of the GOP candidate than was it a political statement by the electorate.

5. While the result is still in doubt at this time, the Republican challenger in South Dakota holds a very slim lead in former majority-leader Daschle's home state. Daschle campaigned vigorously for the Democrat candidate, yet the GOP has a good chance of winning this formerly Democrat seat when the votes are finally counted and certified. Also, in Louisiana a run-off election will be held in December to determine whether the GOP challenger can defeat the Democrat incumbent.

6. On election eve Democrats had high hopes of winning GOP senate seats in Texas, Arkansas, North Carolina, New Hampshire, and Colorado and had confidently expected to retain their senate seats in Georgia, Louisiana, Missouri, Minnesota, and South Dakota. Only their victory in Arkansas materialized while the South Dakota and Louisiana races are still undecided and in real danger of being lost to the Republican challengers. In the House, Democrats were cautiously confident that they could at least make a dent in the Republican margin, possibly even winning control of the House if their candidates could benefit from expected senate victories. The hard reality is that Republicans increased their House majority by 3-4 seats.

What are the consequences of these stunning voter repudiations of Democrats' congressional hopes? Well, for one thing, Senator Jeffords (I-VT) will find things a lot less comfortable now that his co-conspirator Tom Daschle has lost his grip on power. Justice finally prevails over Jeffords' self-serving betrayal that handed Senate control to the Democrats as a result of back-room deals made with Daschle. Another consequence of this election is that the politics of obstructionism practiced by Daschle and his cohorts in the Senate will be much harder for them to pull off. Americans do not appreciate the opportunistic use of filibustering to bring government to its heels -- yet this will be the only tactic left for Daschle to pursue his obstruction of Bush's legislative initiatives. Perhaps most significant, the huge backlog of judicial appointments that have been politically held up by Daschle and the Democrat-controlled Judiciary Committee will now be approved, with the likely prospect that deserving appointments that were rejected by Democrats will be resubmitted and passed when Republicans assume their majority position in the Senate. Now that Bush will have a far greater chance of successful confirmations, look for some Supreme Court resignations within the next year.

Clearly, both the underhanded manner in which Democrats assumed control of the Senate (through back room deal-making, not electoral victories) as well as the subsequent "politics of obstructionism" practiced by Daschle and Senate Democrats have been strongly repudiated by the electorate. American's are first and foremost proponents of fair play, and the rather childish and unfair tactics of Democrats since their loss of the presidency in 2000 has apparently touched a sensitive nerve nationwide. If the Democrats learn nothing else from their staggering losses, they would be well advised to come away from this debacle with a greater appreciation for the desire of Americans to be represented by people of honor and integrity who play by the rules. ***

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