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Liberals in the Democratic party believe in their causes (however misguided) and are willing to fight for them. They play to win. Contrary, however, to what some Republicans sometimes say, the Democrats (well, most of them, anyway) do not believe in winning merely for its own sake. They believe in winning in order to advance their ideological goals and achieve their policy objectives.
On Tuesday we won. But if our victory is to mean anything, we must act with determination to advance our causes. You can be certain that the ideological hard Left — whose grip on the apparatus of the Democratic party was strengthened by the results on Tuesday — is prepared to act with nothing less than determination to stop us. Of course, President Bush is wise and right to insist on "no gloating." It would be neither wise nor right, however, to permit the Senate Democrats, in the name of "bipartisanship" or out of a misguided desire to appear magnanimous, to retain their victories of the past two years or use the filibuster to block Republican initiatives without paying a heavy political price. No, I am not urging the privatization of Social Security — though we had better do something to save the system — or even the abolition of the Department of Education. Our candidates did not campaign on these issues and have not built the public support necessary to advance them. We need to move aggressively, however, on the issues that our candidates did campaign on. At the top of the list is antiterrorism and national security. But there is more, including tax reform and economic growth, enhanced legal protection for the unborn, partially born, and newly born, a ban on all forms of human cloning, and passage of the president's faith-based initiative. An issue on which President Bush — to his great credit — campaigned vigorously and unceasingly as he toured the country touting Republican senatorial candidates is the confirmation of judges he has appointed and will appoint to fill vacancies in the federal courts. The Democrat-controlled senate — playing to win — has spent two years doing everything it can to prevent the president's nominees — men and women of unsullied honor and proven ability — from getting a confirmation vote or, in many cases, even a hearing. Now it is our turn to play to win. The first priority of the Senate under Republican leadership should be to rectify a particularly egregious wrong. The worst of the many sins committed by the ultraliberal Senate Judiciary Committee after Jim Jeffords defection transferred control to the Democrats was the trashing of Texas Supreme Court Justice Priscilla Owen. Despite her distinguished record on the bench — one that earned her a "well-qualified" rating even from the liberal American Bar Association — the Democrats killed her nomination to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit for one simple reason: She declined to interpret a Texas law regarding parental consent to abortion in the way favored by pro-abortion liberals. By defeating the nomination of Justice Owen, the left-wing Democrats sought to lay down a marker. Their goal was to establish the proposition that any nominee, however well qualified, who did not strictly tow the liberal line on abortion was "out of the mainstream" and unfit to hold federal judicial office. President Bush should revive the nomination of Priscilla Owen. Trent Lott should schedule a floor debate and vote on her nomination at the earliest possible moment. Let Teddy Kennedy and Barbara Boxer howl. Then defeat them. There is no need for further hearings. No one seriously doubts that that Justice Owen is highly qualified for the job. Everybody knows why left-wing Democrats wants to deprive her of it. It is time for Republicans to lay down a marker of our own: We must make clear our determination to secure the appointment of judges who will interpret the Constitution and laws faithfully. There should be no thought of compromising to appease left-wing Democrats. What we should do, rather, is learn from them. They are not timid about exercising political power when they come into possession of it. Nor should Republicans be. — Robert P. George is McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence and Director of the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions at Princeton University. His most recent book is The Clash of Orthodoxies. |
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ll
right, my Republican friends. We had a great victory on Tuesday. But let's
clear our minds of cant. This is not the time for magnanimity.
