The Great "Conservative" Victory of 2006
16th Nov 2006, 13:32 GMT
Here's my column for the December issue of Nougat Magazine. “If we break this Contract, throw us out” - The Republican Party’s 1994 “Contract with America” November 7th, the long rumored “Democratic wave” hit America. Voters frustrated by an incompetent Bush Administration and his scandal-ridden, rubber stamp Republican Congress sent a dramatic message that they wanted change. Democrats took roughly 30 seats to take control of the House of Representatives, as well as 6 seats to take a slim majority in the Senate. They also dominated on the State level, taking 6 Governorships and at least nine chambers in state legislatures. Despite such a widespread landslide, numerous media figures tried to downplay the extent of the Democrats’ victory, some even spinning it as a win for conservatives. They explained that most of the Democrats elected were actually conservative, meaning there would not be any significant shift of power in Congress. Pundits also claimed that the numerous conservative referendums that passed around the country showed that while the Democrats won seats, the country was still “right of center” ideologically. However, such media spin does not hold up against the facts. The great majority of Democrats elected to Congress were far from conservative. In fact, most of them could be labeled progressive or liberal. A closer examination of referendums around the county also shows that just as many “liberal” ones were passed as conservative ones. Far from being a great win for conservatism (as today’s Republican’s would define it), this election has shown a significant leftward shift in America politically. *** The Republican media pundits immediately went on the defensive while spinning their electoral “thumping”, as President Bush called it. Rush Limbaugh claimed that Democrats “could not win being liberals”, therefore nominating “a bunch of moderate and conservative Democrats.” He claimed that “liberalism didn’t win anything yesterday. Republicanism lost. Conservatism was nowhere to be found other than the Democratic side of the aisle.” David Brooks wrote in the New York Times that the nation “did not swing to the left”, rather had merely “exchanged moderate Republicans for conservative Democrats”. Conservatives Glenn Beck and Pat Buchanan further cited an array of gay marriage bans that passed all around the country to show that despite the Democrats’ gains, most Americans are still conservatives at heart. Such talking points would creep into the mainstream media until they became a point of fact for many pundits. The morning after the election, the Washington Post ran a front page story on the election filled with such misinformation. The article claimed that “the Democrats’ victory was built on the back of more centrist candidates seizing Republican-leaning districts” and that the Democrats will now be shaped by this massive influx of “Blue Dog Democrats” from the South and rural Midwest. The article further claimed that the country remained ideologically “right of center.” Network and cable TV news talking heads would further spread the idea that mostly conservative Democrats won. In fact, many found the most interesting outcome of the election not to be the upcoming battle of a Democratic Congress versus the Bush administration, but the battle within the Democratic Party between its “liberal” leadership and its new “conservative” members. *** After David Brooks claimed that voters chose only “conservative Democrats”, he went on to name four of them. That he would name only four of them is no coincidence, as they were almost the only new Democrats in Congress that could in any way be called “conservative”. Outside of Representatives Heath Schuler (NC), Nick Lampson (TX) and a handful in Indiana, the rest of the incoming Democrats to the House are far from conservative. A Media Matters for America survey found that of the incoming Democratic Representatives, only 5 were pro-life and only 2 were against stem-cell research. Of those same representatives, all were for an increase in the minimum wage, a change in our Iraq policy, and opposed to efforts to privatize social security. Further, roughly half of the new Democrats entering the House could be labeled as progressives. Contrary to the media spin, the election saw many moderate Republicans in “blue states” of the Northeast lose to liberal Democrats. This was also true in Arizona, California, Iowa, Minnesota and in Kentucky with the liberal John Yarmuth. The presence of newly elected liberal Democrats was even more glaring in the Senate. Though Bob Casey (PA) is definitely a social conservative, most of the new Senators caucusing with Democrats are unabashed liberals. Bernie Sanders (VT) is an independent Socialist (literally) who will be one of the most liberal members of the Senate, as will Sherrod Brown (OH), who won a landslide victory in a “red state” that voted for Bush twice. Newly elected Sheldon Whitehouse (RI), Claire McCaskill (MO) and Amy Klobuchar (MN) are also clearly progressive candidates who are not even remotely conservative. Though some in the media have claimed that Senators-elect Jon Tester (MT) and Jim Webb (VA) are “conservative”, a look at their policy positions makes this a dubious claim. Webb is a pro-choice, economic populist who has been against the Iraq War since before the invasion. Tester is pro-choice and against amendments to ban gay marriage and flag burning. Though he is “pro-gun rights”, he is also for repealing the PATRIOT Act, claiming that with such government intrusion, “we’ll damn well need” our guns. Doesn’t sound like a 21st century conservative to me. *** While 6 gay marriage bans were passed in referendums around the country, many states passed referendums that were far from conservative. All 6 referendums proposing to increase the minimum wage passed, a platform of the Democratic Party that the Republicans have been opposed to. Missouri passed a referendum to allow stem cell research, through no small help of Rush Limbaugh, who gave Michael J. Fox’s cause a world of publicity by openly mocking him and accusing him of “faking” his Parkinson’s symptoms. In South Dakota, one of the most conservative and anti-abortion states in America, an effort to ban all abortions was soundly defeated by voters. And for the first time in recent years, a referendum to ban gay marriage was defeated, and in conservative Arizona at that. A look at recent polls also supports the claim that America has shifted to the left politically. On four of the top issues that the Democrats have promised to tackle as soon as they get into power, a large majority sides with their position. 86% favor increasing the minimum wage, whose buying power is at its lowest since 1955. In health care, 79% favor legislation that expands health care to the uninsured and 72% favor importing cheaper drugs from Canada. Democrats’ plan to implement all of the 9/11 Commission’s recommendations is also supported by 62% of the public. Even a look at the “values” issues shows the depiction of Americans as “right of center” is inaccurate. A majority still consider themselves pro-choice, and while gay marriage is still unpopular, 60% now favor giving legal recognition to homosexual partners. Further, on the Republicans’ two big issues of “Terror & Taxes”, voters have begun to lose faith in them. A recent poll asked which party could be trusted more to cut taxes for the middle class, reduce the deficit, and control spending. By an almost 2-1 margin, they chose the Democratic Party. These devastating results show that the Reagan Democrats wanting fiscal responsibility, who the Republican Party built their climb to power on, may finally be coming home. And as for which party is trusted more to fight terrorism, for the first time Democrats are beating Republicans in surveys. These evolving views, along with the debacle in Iraq and corruption scandals in Congress, all added up to create the perfect storm on November 7th. Though some in the media have tried to downplay this dramatic victory for Democrats, the real proof will come when these new, progressive Congressmen begin to make their voice heard on the chamber floor. This will be roughly the same time that Rush Limbaugh and David Brooks begin to tell you how “liberal” all of those new Democratic congressman are.