|
Bush Wins Presidential Election
The "we-won-even-though-we-lost" dementia of Democrat party officials since
the 2000 Presidential election was cured this week by the citizens of the nation who voted to ratify the election
of President George W. Bush and the Republicans by a final vote of 53 percent to 47 percent. In overall votes cast,
the Republicans won the gubernatorial races in the aggregate by 52.8 percent to 47.2 percent (third parties excluded),
the senatorial elections by 52.2 percent to 47.8 percent and the House contests 53.4 percent to 46.6 percent, according
to UPI correspondent Steve Sailer.
The mid first term victory was stunning, giving the Republicans control of the House, Senate and Presidency for
the first time in decades. None the less, the margins are not so great as to give the Republicans free reign. The
nation voted against obstructionism but not for unbridled adventure. Three restraints are left in Democrat hands:
the rules of the Senate, the rules of the Senate and the rules of the Senate.
The Organizing Resolution. The Senate cannot operate without first passing an organizing resolution. The
lame duck November session will still operate with the Democrats as committee chairs (enjoy your holidays, Jumpin'
Jim Jeffords) and Tom Daschle (D-SD) as leader in charge of scheduling. Therefore little or nothing beyond some
kind of continuing resolution for funding is likely to get finished before the new session which begins January
3rd. Pressure to pass Homeland Defense will be in play but may not be finished. Nothing much will get done for
the first two weeks after the January new session begins because the Senate will not have negotiated a new organizing
resolution before the President's State-of-the-Union address. The catch is that if the Senate fails to adopt a
new resolution, it operates under the current existing resolution, a Daschle document. Democrats plan to exact
a price in committee budgets and procedures before they allow a resolution to pass.
The Anonymous Hold. Under Senate custom any member may secretly put a hold on any nominee scheduled for
a hearing before a committee. This means that judicial nominees can be delayed indefinitely by any one Senator.
Don't expect any flood of judicial approvals without heavy going. The strategic decision from the White House is
(1) should we run the acceptable judicial nominees through first and make the Democrats look petty or (2) should
we run the heavy duty ones through first while the power of the election stills holds?
The Filibuster. Any proposed legislation can also have an anonymous hold put on it which indicates that
if it reaches the floor a filibuster will be attempted. Forcing the legislation to a vote requires 60 votes. Therefore,
no legislation that hasn't been drafted to obtain the approval of a super majority will be considered for a vote.
While the Republicans are in the strongest position since the Eisenhower Presidency, that doesn't mean that any
cakewalk for their agenda has now been voted by the electorate. In the aggregate, the electorate advises caution
and compromise. So do the Founding Fathers who feared an exuberant rush in the wake of a victorious election.
It is enough to say that if we haven't returned to a growth economy by early 2004, Prez 43 will follow in the footsteps
of Prez 41. The Republican gains of Presidency, Senate and House can all disappear in a double dip recession. Larry
Lindsey's pro-growth agenda needs to be unleashed now. That said, the electorate has supported President Bush on
his expressed desire to win the war on terrorism and cleared his path of obstructions. They expect a win. They
expect a quick win. But they have yet to consider their own part in the battle. Public opinion has yet to be formed
on these issues.
The War on Terror. If the elusive center could be defined as zero and there were five positions to its right
and five positions to its left, you would find the White House at one right, the Senate at two right and the House
at three right. The Democrats, on the other hand, would have a Senate that begins at three left and a House under
anticipated new leader Nancy Palosi (D-CA) at a five left. Her House supporters all come from recently gerrymandered
safe districts and their only worry is a primary challenge coming from further left. The national party holds no
particular meaning for them, nor do the efforts of new centrist Democrat governors.
The defining national issue will be security, here and abroad. If the electorate has said anything, it is that
they are serious about 9/11 and its aftermath. Support the Commander-in-Chief is the national theme that arose
from the election. That means the nation must consider and adopt a comprehensive understanding of the nature of
the threat and the character of the war. There is just one war and it is universal.
When President Thomas Jefferson sent the US Navy and Marines to chat with the Bey of Tripoli, it was to convince
him to deny safe harbor and re-supply to the terrorists of the day - pirates. The issue is no different now. Spread
across 60 nation states, networking terrorists for hire find safe havens and support from a set of countries that
largely have income from oil revenues. The principal actors are Iraq, Iran, Syria and Saudi Arabia. Secondary players,
such as Lebanon, Libya and North Korea participate as well. Each nation presents a different challenge and requires
a different solution but all must be engaged if terrorism is to be defeated. Those politicians who are perceived
as making the attempt to subdivide the threat will look like they are trying to subvert the defense effort through
a divide and conquer tactic. The nation must be united in its understanding of the scope and depth of the war.
Islamists gained influence when Arab National Socialism failed. Hiding behind the cloak of religion is an ancient
tactic but one which the United States must learn to resist. It is not enough for the politically correct to tout
Islam as a "religion of peace." There are supposed to be 1.2 billion Muslims in the world. Saying they
are peaceful and should therefore be left alone is no more valuable than saying most of the German people didn't
like Hitler. Hitler's motivated minority still prevailed. Let us say that one percent of Muslims were not peaceful
but adhered to a deviant and violent sect. That would still represent over one million active enemies. Political
correctness is a virus that weakens the body politic. Support for moderate Muslims must be consistent.
European news sources are saying that the US has prevailed and a favorable UN vote on Iraqi inspections will occur
Friday. A favorable vote, says Stratfor Global Intelligence Service, may spark a Russian attempt to stage a pre-emptive
coup using pro-Russian Iraqi generals in time to prevent a US attack and prevent the serious economic consequences
for Russia (lower oil prices and a loss of contracts) that an American victory might bring.
Even if that is so, our electorate still has to gain an appreciation of what Europe means by "multilateralism."
They mean an all out assault on national sovereignty. The European community expects the support of the left in
America in the cause of surrendering our decisions about national security, law, economics and trade to an international
body. Their outrage at Bush has far more to do with his resistance to European plans to govern the world through
multi-national organizations (preferably staffed by EU citizens) rather that the bi-lateral give-and-take between
sovereign nation states. Iraq, though a valuable business partner, is a small chip in the EU game of replacing
the nation state with governance from international bodies. Whether it's Kyoto or the ICC, any opening such as
complications in the Iraq war effort will be exploited to advance their larger cause of multinational governance.
Our electorate must remain vigilant to all forms of encroachment on our national sovereignty.
Finally, the electorate must further develop its ability to sift the distortions of the news media. The gracious
but unsolicited media advice to both parties on election night was that they should move to their left. The Republicans
were told to abandon their core and hug the center so as to keep in the media's good graces. The Democrats were
told that they had muddled their message by hugging the center and that they should boldly march to the left in
order to regain the power they had lost. The electorate must constantly search for unbiased sources of news.
For those who moan that their vote doesn't count, the American experience shows that it does count. What they have
to understand is that our freedom is preserved by their votes in the aggregate. No one individual gets his or her
way. They have to convince others to stand together with them. Given access to accurate and timely information,
the combined votes of free people tend to make correct decisions over time. The November, 2002 message to terrorists
is simple - we have voted for courage over fear.
|
