Democrats
Win!
Nobember
17, 2006
In a stunning rebuke to President
Bush, the Democratic party won a crushing victory
in the mid-term elections of November 7. Democrats
seized control of the House by winning over 30
seats held by Republicans, and also seemed to
have grabbed the Senate (If Webb’s lead
in Virginia survives recount challenges) by winning
6 of 7 contested Republican-held seats. By any
estimation, this was a landslide.
The Democrats achieved this phenomenal success
by nationalizing the election. Instead of 435
separate House races and 33 Senate races (only
one-third of the Senate holds elections every
two years), there was a national race pitting
the Democrats against George W. Bush. As Bush
was not on the ballot, his proxies were the Republican
legislators who had enabled his drunken stumbling
across the world stage over the last six years.
The American people had finally had enough.
Several factors helped the Democrats take advantage
of the opportunity that Bush’s unpopularity
created. The Democrats were able to energize their
base enough to raise sufficient cash to be competitive
across the country, especially as Republicans
usually tend to have an edge in fundraising. Secondly,
Democrats improved their voter turnout mechanisms.
It was the ability to find and motivate conservative
voters to go to the polls that got Bush reelected
in 2004, and the Democrats played catch-up in
trying to create a similarly effective machine
this year. Thirdly, Democrats recruited excellent
candidates, many of whom were moderates or even
conservatives, to run as Democrats. The best example
is that of James Webb, the likely winner of the
Virginia Senate race. Webb served in the Reagan
administration 20 years ago, and was a Republican
for most of his life. His son is in the army in
Iraq.
For Bush this election means his presidency is
effectively over. Without the blank check of a
Congress asleep at the wheel for the last six
years, he will find his last two to be very difficult.
So what will the Democrats do? They will not bring
the Iraq war to an end. The war is under the control
of the President and Congress cannot run it. As
an extreme step, Congress can cut off the funds
that pay for the war, but such a move will backfire
badly on the Democrats, and they will not do that.
They will however exercise a veto over any escalation
in Iraq, or any widening of conflict, such as
a decision to bomb Iran.
The Democrats can force hearings that look into
all aspects of the war and subpoena people to
testify. These hearings could be extremely damaging
to Bush. In the broader legal issues, Bush will
no longer have a Congress that will give him a
blank check to torture people or shred the Constitution.
Although this victory does not give Democrats
the power to end the war, it is such a landslide
that even Bush will have to notice. There is no
way he can construct an effective Iraq policy
going forward without Democratic input. And Donald
Rumsfeld proved a burden after this election.
Bush finally fired the incompetent architect of
this war.
How the mighty have fallen! In 2002, Bush enjoyed
a 90% approval rating, and had so much power that
he single-handedly took the US into an unwarranted
war against the opposition of almost the entire
rest of the planet. Now he stands rejected by
his own nation. Bush’s legacy is in the
balance. Unless he makes serious and effective
changes, he is headed for the status of one of
America’s worst Presidents. Comments can
reach me at Nali@socal.rr.com
