And so another election draws to a close in the manner we’ve come to expect: the counting of votes dragging on beyond election night with a few thousand votes separating two flawed candidates in a single state. Our electoral system surely works in mysterious ways that on occasion it seems to thrust the future direction of the nation on the shoulders of a handful of voters. Still, after the smoke has cleared, one thing has become obvious: the Democrats have regained control of Capitol Hill.
Senator George Allen of Virginia conceded the Virginia Senate race to Jim Webb in a press conference about half an hour ago. He did so with dignity and showing the face of a good loser. He stated that he would not call for a recount, thereby effectively ceding the Senate to the Democrats. At that time, the day had already seen a sight I could never have imagined: President Bush and Democratic House Leader Nancy Pelosi ‘enjoying’ a so-called Power Lunch in the Oval Office to discuss the new political realities in DC.
Clearly it’s all smiles, handshakes and photo-opportunities now. Why, I expect Nancy Pelosi to be photographed kissing babies by week’s end. She made a good start in that direction by opening her victory speech with a pointless story about a bunch of kids she met on her way to Congress and about how they were the future - clearly the new Speaker thought she had invented the wheel on that cliche. It’s important for Democrats to seem like gracious winners with talk of bipartisanship and for Republicans to seem like gracious losers with talk of, wait for it, bipartisanship.
But I for one don’t expect this warm, cuddly, Kodak-moment vibe -what I like to call the Happy-Happy-Joy-Joy-phase- to continue for long. After all, the Democrats made some hefty promises on the campaign trail: everything will change for the better - two years of nothing but raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens. The time will come when they’re going to have to find the budget for all their handouts and find the magical fix-it solution for Iraq that has eluded us. To do all this, they’re going to have to make their legislature pass by a not-too-keen President Bush.
And that’s where the beauty lies and why I’ve called this election result a blessing in disguise for Republicans. It’s easy to be in the opposition: all you need to do is complain loudly about the negative aspects of any bill the majority party introduces and claim your party could do everything so much better. So I’m glad that the Democrats are prevented of doing just that for these coming two years. Let them have the burden of leadership for a while and let us together see what they manage to achieve.
It’s not in the GOP’s interest to have Bush stonewalling. He needs to appear willing to cooperate, yet ruthless in vetoing bills that stand against his ideologies. In 2008, I want the call to be, from the Iowa Caucus in January until Election Day on November 4th, how the Democrats have squandered their time in possession of Congress, how few of their promises have come true. Then the Republican Party will enjoy the opposition-advantage and just maybe that will be enough to recapture both houses of Congress as well as elect President Giuliani/Rice/McCain into office.
Oh Happy Day!
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