In one way, Tuesday’s elections were all about the Democrats. In another way they were all about Republicans’ failure to convey a message about anything other than Iraq. The public is cranky about the war. Never mind the fact that the stock markets are at all-time highs and unemployment is low… the economy seems to have been a non-factor in this election cycle.
The Democrats now have control of congress for the first time since 1994. Twelve years ago, the Republicans had a plan (the Contract with America) and voters knew exactly what they wanted to do and what their votes would mean. This week’s election was very different. From what I could tell, the main Democratic strategy and message was “Iraq is bad, and we’re not Republicans.” It worked well enough to get them elected, but as a citizen and a voter, I have to ask: what’s the plan? What’s going on? I really hope there is some sort of strategy or plan other than “we’re not Republicans”.
The other thing that will be interesting to watch is that many of the Democratic Senate and House gains were from candidates running on fairly moderate or conservative platforms. These aren’t (at least not based on their campaigns) left-wing or very liberal Democrats. Of course, one’s campaign strategy and voting record don’t always fall into alignment, but if everyone shifts hard to the left after running on a moderate platform the voters will notice.
Where are we going? What’s the plan? Will the Democrats be held accountable for their (lack of) plan to resolve the Iraq war?
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