Democracy
Restored but No Shift in Values
By Dr Muqtedar Khan
Assistant Professor
Department of Political Science and International
Relations
University of Delaware
US
Americans want change, but it is not clear in
what directions. The Democrats have taken everything;
the house [228-206] with an emphatic margin, perhaps
also the Senate [51-49, when the dust clears]
and the gubernatorial positions [28-22].
The message that America has sent out is that
people are deeply disenchanted with the status
quo. President Bush’s disapproval rating
[hovering near the 60s] and the opposition to
the Iraq war [also in the 60s] have brought the
Democrats home. Ohio is emblematic of these elections.
In 2004 it gave George W. Bush the White House,
but now it has elected Democrats to the Congress,
to the Senate and as Governor.
But do we now know what Americans want? Like the
Democrats they have a clear craving for a new
direction but only a vague vision of what it might
be. While it is clear what the voters have rejected
-- Republican hubris, crony politics and power
mania – it is not obvious what they have
voted for, except change.
In the past six years, the US had become a one-party
state with the Republicans in control of the Senate,
Congress and the White House, and with the conservatives
in majority in the Supreme Court. Now with the
Democrats winning the Congress and the Senate
the system of checks and balances has been restored
and democracy has once again come back to America.
The elections have reintroduced balance, oversight
and accountability to American democracy.
The first thing to recognize about the current
midterm elections is that it was not just a referendum
on Iraq; if it was so, both Ned Lemont an anti-war
Democrat in Connecticut and Lincoln Chafee an
anti-war Republican in Rhode Island would not
have lost. This election was about change. Americans
are seeking a new leadership, certainly new direction,
but perhaps not a shift in values.
Exit polls indicate that no single issue determined
the shift in politics, with corruption, economy,
terrorism and Iraq equally shaping voter’s
choice. Interestingly, neither “morality”
nor immigration was cited as a key determinant.
The category of “corruption” however
represents voter’s disenchantment with the
morality party. Republicans as well as Republican
issues have clearly lost America’s favor.
Even on terrorism and immigration, issues considered
as key elements of the Republican suit, the Republican
edge was statistically insignificant [51%-46%].
Exit polls also indicated that 2:1 voters were
more concerned with national issues than local
issues suggesting that Americans are more concerned
with what was happening to America than with their
immediate fortunes.
While Republicans lost decisively, conservatism
has not receded even marginally.
This election is not a victory for moveon.org,
or the new invigorated liberal streak within the
Democratic base. The conservative base held true
to its values. The election results indicate that
it is not America that has changed but that it
is the two parties who have changed. The Republican
Party has been recognized for what it has become,
a power hungry, corrupt, hypocritical, fiscally
irresponsible political mafia. Consequently, voters,
mostly independents, abandoned the Republicans
and migrated towards the New Democrats.
The Democrats on the other hand, at least many
of the new winners, have moved to the center,
embracing conservative values and adjusting their
politics to fit the existing values of American
conservative mainstream. Many of the winners like
Brad Ellsworth [IA] and Jim Web [VA] are social
conservatives. Some of the new Democratic winners
are opposed to gay marriage, support the second
amendment, and are pro-life. It seems that the
Democrats who embraced social conservatism and
allowed the strong discontent with the war in
Iraq and Republican corruption to substitute for
political vision, won.
This is a victory for a new Democratic Party,
a victory for Nancy Pelosi the Democratic leader
but not for Pelosian liberalism.
For those who are deeply disturbed by the growth
of conservatism and the Christianization of American
politics, this midterm victory for the Democrats
is not a harbinger of good news. It is a bit depressing.
Democrats won, but only by becoming more conservative
and by not investing any clarity in their slogan
“New Direction for America”. This
is not a new direction for America; it is a new
disguise for the Democrats. This election will
ensure that come 2008, both Democrats and Republicans
will be competing for the “center”,
social conservatism with a touch of moderate political
liberalism.
Nancy Pelosi will be the first ever woman speaker
of the House. She has an important challenge to
face. She will have to lead the Democratic Party
in a way that will not hurt the Democrats in 2008.
She will have to lead the house in a way that
will not grid lock the government and replace
a do nothing Republican Congress with a new direction
Congress. And interestingly, she has the opportunity
to preview America to what it means to have a
Democratic woman at the helm. Her performance
will surely impact on Senator Hillary Clinton’s
presidential prospects.
For President Bush, this election was a Katrina.
It has stripped him of his imperial status. Now
he will have to explain his policies, and provide
proof for whatever claims he wishes to make to
justify his foreign policies; policies which increase
terrorism and make America more insecure. He can
either chose to ignore the democratic will of
the American people, like his friend Tony Blair
in UK and continue to wage crusades abroad based
on his faith and convictions, or he can learn
from Governor Schwarzenegger. The Terminator read
the smoke signals months ago and made adjustments
and has survived to govern another day. If President
Bush turns a blind eye to this bonfire of signals,
then come November 2008, we will once again become
a one party state.
If this Democratic victory puts an end to American
Presidential unilateralism, then it is surely
a good day for America and the World, in spite
of the intransigence of American conservatism.
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