From the executive, to the House, to the Senate, Republicans were soundly
defeated across the board in Tuesday's election, giving the legislative
edge to the Democratic Party.
A landslide of Democratic proportions happened.
Flashback
Flashback to 2004, after the defeat of Senator John Kerry by the incumbent George Bush, I can still recall being lectured by Sean
Hannity on television, in
condescending tones explaining why the Democrats lost. Hannity repeatably pointed
to the post-electoral map of the United States, convincingly engulfed in a sea of red, telling us to " look at it Democrats."
Why did the Democratic Party lose so? Hannity stated that the Democrats lost because the United States is a "center right"
nation and implied that the liberal values of the Democratic party were
now out of step with mainstream America and the map showed that liberalism had been irrecoverably invalidated in the US of A.
Yep, as far back as 2004 the myth of the "center right" had begun.
Hannity, look at the map.
Former Wisconsin Governor and presidential hopeful, Tommy Thompson, accurately described the electoral map as "
The whole thing is blue!" And regarding our state, "
Wisconsin is the bluest of the blue!”
I'm not here to rub in the Democratic victory because I remember
how I felt in 2004, however if we are to apply Hannity's argument,
Republicans – you are out of step with mainstream America.
But you see, I'm not a blockhead like Hannity. I don't believe that for a second that republicanism is dead.
I Wish I Knew How to Quit You
Republicans, as you begin rebuild your party after all the finger pointing has finished...please, do not talk, walk, marry, or dress like a liberal.
I, we, America, needs you the way you are. In fact, if going more to the right, more conservative, thinks that helps you as some pundits suggests, by all means, go further to the right.
You are the opposition after all, sometimes vile and sometimes grudgingly
correct, but opposition nonetheless. I love you just the way you are –
in all your regressive splendor – especially on social issues.
Stay the course. Don't become liberals.
Liberals, please do not become conservatives under the false perception that you must to do so to maintain your majorities.
Myths Exposed
There is no center and there is no moderate - there is no monolithic mainstream when matter of social priority involved. Because a majority of people agree on an issue, it does not make the belief correct.
If you believe that gays can marry or have civil unions - then you
are on the left. If you
believe that gays can not and approve of legal bans against it, you are
on the right. There is no middle ground. There is no center. There are
no moderates where these issues are concerned.
You are either pregnant or your not.
Yet, that does not stop politicians and
pundits from making this un-nuanced, broad appeal to popularity.
In Conclusion
Democrats
and liberals did not win largely on social policies and values as the
ballot initiatives in various states illustrate, but on more pressing
concerns of the economy, domestic policy, and foreign policy.
It is those issues which the nation has shifted left. Went blue. Shifted liberal.
Civil rights for gays and homosexuals, abortion rights, sits firmly in the clutches of the right. Shifted toward the social conservatives. Went red.
And the "center" - be damned.