They can’t say they weren’t warned. The polls showed independents beginning to turn away from President Obama in the spring of 2009. Town halls in the summer showed strong grassroots resistance to the Democrats’ health-care plan. In November 2009, Republicans won big in Virginia and New Jersey — both states Obama had carried the year before. A few months later, opposition to the health-care law helped Republican Scott Brown to win the seat that Ted Kennedy had occupied for decades.
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Democrats had plenty of time to change course. Instead, they decided that the public was easily confused and would come around. The weak economy and previous Democratic gains meant that Republicans would likely do well in this election, especially in the House. But it was this Democratic obstinacy that converted a defeat into a rout. Republicans took control of the House, defeated liberal heavyweights such as Sen. Russ Feingold of Wisconsin, and picked up a slew of governorships and state legislatures. The House will now have more Republicans than in any year since the 1940s.
The Republicans deserve some credit for their own success. The early popularity of the president did not prevent them from opposing a bloated stimulus, and they rejected the superficial arguments for cooperating with the Democrats in extending government control of health care. They refused, in short, to acquiesce in their widely predicted extinction.
The Tea Partiers have much to be proud of. Portrayed as extremists and racists, they succeeded in forming a coalition that won a majority of the votes — and, incidentally, elected a record number of non-white Republicans. (The country will now have two Indian-American governors, both conservative Republicans.) Like any political movement, and especially any new one, the Tea Partiers made mistakes. But they saw an opportunity to change the country’s direction and had the fortitude to do it. They have been indispensable to electing several new conservative stars, including Marco Rubio, Pat Toomey, and Ron Johnson. (All three of them come from states that supported Obama, in case anyone’s counting.) Many of the same pundits who after Obama’s election foresaw a Republican retreat to the South will now act as though they expected these results all along. They will move on to warning Republicans of doom next time around. And indeed there are caveats and warnings that Republicans need to hear — but not, today, from us.
The loudest warnings sounding now are the ones the Democrats are, remarkably, still refusing to hear. They continue to assume that the public will come to its senses and the Republican resurgence of the last two years will prove to be an aberration. For the Republicans, that fact is a better portent for 2012 than any of Tuesday’s election returns.
Congratulations to all of our newly minted CONSERVATIVES in Congress!
It's a bittersweet morning for me having to stare at the prospect of six more years of Barbara Boxer and the election of Jerry Brown (mass insanity is all that can explain that result)! My heart sank last night as I watched the electorate here push California, a once great state, over the cliff. My family and I will have the opportunity/choice to move in 18 months and, unless a miracle happens, I will likely take my family from this State in search of a better future somewhere else...
"The loudest warnings sounding now are the ones the Democrats are, remarkably, still refusing to hear."
Just goes to show you, there are none so blind as those who will not hear. My advice to Democrats: Don't cross that chicken before the bridge hatches.
Please continue to ignore the warning claxons my dear, dear Democrats. You are obviously correct to assume you just weren't Progressive enough. Go with that. Your Destiny awaits.
Assuming that youre right, and that Democrats' policies are counter to the will of the people---
The last paragraph of your editorial is celebrating the fact that Dems will likely ignore the will of the people (and continue what you see as wrongheaded policies) because it would be easier for Republicans to get elected in 2012?
Is government about partisanship or about getting things done? Editorials like this, and McConnell's recent comments about your party's top priorities, suggest that Republicans think its about the former.
I sincerely hope that this victory is taken in stride and GOP excesses are curbed. We don't need to waste time using the subpoena powers of the House to investigate anyone other than the Justice Department. I wouldn't mind watching Eric Holder's head dangle metaphorically from a pike.
The Democrats haven't gotten the message yet, but if we let them continue in this manner, they will let it all fall through their hands.
They were warned but did not heed, people do not want to be told they have to buy something or be taxed heavily. People are seeing what this health reform is costing and do not want to bear the burden. Businesses are already feeling the pinch of health reform, the economy. Jobless people want results. If you don't give them results, they'll fire you, plain and simple.
@gsmorgan - I think that you are mistaken. The role of government is not to get things done. The role of government should be to protect property, liberty and rights of individuals. This notion that government should always do something is how bailouts and interference from the government in our lives happens. The country yesterday rejected that notion.
There are many valid rejections of Democratic philosophy -- they're anti-business, pro-tax, etc. The one claim that Republicans can NOT make about Democrats is that they're obstinate. Congressional Republicans have given up on collaborative lawmaking over the last two years. Republicans have gained votes, not by offering new proposals, but by promising to rescind, rescind, rescind. The only core principle of the New Party of No is its obstinacy.
We are a philosophically divided country right now that is why we have these seesaw elections. The Republicans once again have a chance to persuade the voters our conservative philosophy, more than just policy positions, is a better philosophy and if we do that we will have a stable governing majority for a while. If we don't bother to persuade but just pursue policy objectives we will see the electorate tilt back to the Dems. The Republicans must fight but they also much persuade and teach. this is why Rubio and Johnson are such promising members of Congress they can do both let us hope most republicans follow their lead.
When gubmmint "gets things done" my taxes go up, the future debt burden on my children increases, freedoms are restricted, etc. I don't want gubmmint to get things done, I want them to protect the freedoms the constitution was written to preserve. It also limits gubmmint, but you have to read and understand the document which many of our elected officials either don't or refuse. As for the Senate minority leader on Obama in 2012; that is the only way we can rid the country of this new monstrosity Obamacare. Go for it Mitch and don't compromise; that is what losers do, not the winners.
We can and should have a discussion about the proper goals and functioning of government (For example, I believe that govt should work to increase prosperity--I suspect you dont value this as much; which is fine).
But we cannot have this debate if we see left-right politics as a competitive sport. We cant hope that the other side screws up so we have a better shot at winning. And that view is exactly what the last paragraph of this editorial endorses and, moreover, celebrates.
Democrats have backed themselves into a trap from which they cannot escape. Tactically, they won't be able to fix Obamacare with a Republican congress. This means that the GOP will control the health care issue for the next two years. This is a massive advantage.
On day one, the new Congress should start formulating a new, drop-in replacement for Obamacare. Even if it can't be enacted, it should be debated, publicized, and ready to go soon. And by the November 2012 elections, every voter should know its provisions. This new GOP plan can become the next "Contract with America" -- vote Republican if you want the better plan, otherwise you'll get the Obamacare monster.
(Of course, the Republicans will screw it up, but it's nice to dream.)
