Republicans win BIG in Electoral Races
The Republicans won 2 out of 3 of the major races this year, including a 60-40 win for Bob McDonnell in Virginia and a closer win for Christie in New Jersey, two states which voted for Obama in 2008. The only major loss for the Republicans was in New York State, where Owens beat Hoffman in a race marked by the defection of the original Republican candidate, Dede Scozzafava, to the Democrat cause. The Republicans also did well in a number of smaller races.
The evidence is strong that Obama and Pelosi have alienated a good percentage of the voters, particularly the moderates, from the Democratic Party. This is extremely good news for the Republicans coming into 2010, and bad news for the Democrats: it makes it very unlikely for the Democrats to be able to succeed even by means of the usual cheating, as the margins of support for the Republicans are simply too high.
This means that 2010 will probably see either the Republicans regaining the Senate and/or House, or at least seriously cutting into the Democratic majority. This in turn means that Obama has to get his programs passed in just one year, or see his opportunity to do so vanish forever. Such a situation makes his path far more difficult, as his programs are unpopular with the American people: the harder he pushes, the more he impairs the party's chances for success in 2010.
If the Democrats do badly in 2010, Obama is going to be a lame duck on the domestic front in 2011-2012. This would be seriously good news for the country, because it would mean that we only have to endure one more year of active sabotage of our economy; afterward, most of the damage will be done by the spending programs Obama has already initiated. Then in 2012 we can elect a real President and starting in 2013 begin cleaning up Obama's mess.
What I expect to see over the next year is the Obama Administration behaving with increasing desperation. They are going to try to intimidate political opponents, they are going to try to (as much as the courts and people let them get away with it) use various legal and semi-legal means to actually punish or silence dissent, and they are going to whine and complain nonstop while doing this, tossing about accusations of "racism," as they do so.
Let them. America is no banana republic(for that matter, looking at the Honduran example, even banana republics are no longer as pathetic as they once were). Every time Obama does this sort of thing, he only emphasizes his own immaturity and untrustworthiness. And the Democrats really don't get why they are arousing such opposition -- this extends to the Congressional Democrats as well, as witness Pelosi's hilarious "Are you serious?" when challenged on the Constitutionality of her health care plans. When they don't react, they look absent; when they do react, they look like Communists; either way, they lose.
The important things for the Republicans to remember:
(1) Don't get cocky. The Democrats still have the Presidency and the Congress, and they can do a lot of damage before 2011 and 2013. Furthermore, you haven't won until you win the Presidency Election Night 2012; if you treat "likely to win" as meaning "already won," you'll lose, and
(2) Don't abandon your base. If the Republican politicians run as "Democrats Lite," or (worse still) defect to the other side because those Conservatives are just so cruel and nasty (as happened in the New York race) then the Democrats are going to win. Popular or unpopular, you can't beat someone who knows what they stand for if you don't know what you stand for.
All in all, though, this is very good news for Republicans -- and for any Americans who love liberty. Even some Democrats.
Which was kind of the reason for the results.
The evidence is strong that Obama and Pelosi have alienated a good percentage of the voters, particularly the moderates, from the Democratic Party. This is extremely good news for the Republicans coming into 2010, and bad news for the Democrats: it makes it very unlikely for the Democrats to be able to succeed even by means of the usual cheating, as the margins of support for the Republicans are simply too high.
This means that 2010 will probably see either the Republicans regaining the Senate and/or House, or at least seriously cutting into the Democratic majority. This in turn means that Obama has to get his programs passed in just one year, or see his opportunity to do so vanish forever. Such a situation makes his path far more difficult, as his programs are unpopular with the American people: the harder he pushes, the more he impairs the party's chances for success in 2010.
If the Democrats do badly in 2010, Obama is going to be a lame duck on the domestic front in 2011-2012. This would be seriously good news for the country, because it would mean that we only have to endure one more year of active sabotage of our economy; afterward, most of the damage will be done by the spending programs Obama has already initiated. Then in 2012 we can elect a real President and starting in 2013 begin cleaning up Obama's mess.
What I expect to see over the next year is the Obama Administration behaving with increasing desperation. They are going to try to intimidate political opponents, they are going to try to (as much as the courts and people let them get away with it) use various legal and semi-legal means to actually punish or silence dissent, and they are going to whine and complain nonstop while doing this, tossing about accusations of "racism," as they do so.
Let them. America is no banana republic(for that matter, looking at the Honduran example, even banana republics are no longer as pathetic as they once were). Every time Obama does this sort of thing, he only emphasizes his own immaturity and untrustworthiness. And the Democrats really don't get why they are arousing such opposition -- this extends to the Congressional Democrats as well, as witness Pelosi's hilarious "Are you serious?" when challenged on the Constitutionality of her health care plans. When they don't react, they look absent; when they do react, they look like Communists; either way, they lose.
The important things for the Republicans to remember:
(1) Don't get cocky. The Democrats still have the Presidency and the Congress, and they can do a lot of damage before 2011 and 2013. Furthermore, you haven't won until you win the Presidency Election Night 2012; if you treat "likely to win" as meaning "already won," you'll lose, and
(2) Don't abandon your base. If the Republican politicians run as "Democrats Lite," or (worse still) defect to the other side because those Conservatives are just so cruel and nasty (as happened in the New York race) then the Democrats are going to win. Popular or unpopular, you can't beat someone who knows what they stand for if you don't know what you stand for.
All in all, though, this is very good news for Republicans -- and for any Americans who love liberty. Even some Democrats.
Which was kind of the reason for the results.