It's a little hard for me to really get a feel for the political atmosphere in the States right now from over here in Kenya. I get a lot of political e-mails and I'm seeing a lot of predictions of a Democrat disaster and Republican takeover of Congress in this coming election. Obama's popularity is tanking as people are fed up with his socialist agenda and the continuing recession and high unemployment. A solid majority of Americans want Obamacare repealed, and an even greater number want the Arizona border closed. Democrats are running scared and trying to distance themselves from Obama. It all sounds great and I hope all this is reflected in the election, but I also hope conservatives aren't counting their chickens too soon.
The Republicans need 39 seats to take over the House and ten to take over the Senate. It seems all but certain that they will get the 39 House seats, and some polls are suggesting possible gains of 54 seats or maybe as many as 63, but the best numbers for the Senate right now can only assure a gain of six seats for the Republicans. There are five Senate seats still too close to predict, and if the Republicans could take those, there is a possibility of as many as 52 seats. To tell you the truth, none of these numbers give me great comfort.
Getting control of the House and replacing Pelosi as Speaker will be in itself a great victory, but if Republicans only gain 39 seats, they will only be able to throw a wrench into Obama's agenda, and without control of the Senate they won't be able to put a stop to anything. If they don't take at the very least all of those 54 or 63 potential gains in the House, it won't be indicative of a great conservative resurgence in the country as much as it will mean the independent middle-of-the-roaders are tired of Obama's view of change and have turned against him. It will mean that liberalism is still strong and it's not going to be easy to bring America back from the brink of destruction. The independents are often easily swayed back and forth.
Polls show Obama's popularity down around 41 to 45%, but his polls have been at that level since last March and they aren't dropping any lower. There are a lot of mindless socialists out there who still support big government and the welfare state. Polls also show so much dissatisfaction with the current leadership in Congress that you would think Harry Reid would already have been blown out of the water in the Nevada Senate race, yet numbers show him in a statistical dead heat with his opponent, Sharron Angle. Other races are similarly tight, all of which suggests to me this election isn't a done deal.
I hope I'm wrong and I'm praying it turns into a Republican landslide, but my feeling is that in order for a Republican victory to have a real impact, they need to take a hundred seats in the House and no less than ten in the Senate. That would be a total rejection of Obama and give the Republicans a solid hold on power, the ability to start repealing Obama's agenda and a mandate to hold him accountable to the Constitution.
The question then will be, what will the Republicans do? Under Newt Gingrich's leadership in the 90's the Republican majority forced Clinton to give up tax and spend in favor of Reaganomics and produced four years of budget surpluses. But even after his repudiation in the 94 congressional elections when everybody thought Clinton was toast, he came back and managed to take credit for the economic recovery and rode it to reelection. I'm not sure Obama is as savvy as Clinton was, but if Republicans aren't careful they could throw away the next presidential election if Obama can repackage himself and ride an economic recovery to victory.
The battle for America's founding Christian values does not stop with just getting control of Congress and overturning Obamacare. The conservative movement is in a life-long battle against the liberal, socialist, anti-Christian and anti-God ideas of the left. Whether we win this election or not, the struggle has to continue. Freedom is never free. Whether the fight is on a battlefield or in the political arena we must be constantly vigilant if we are to remain free.
That means, keep talking up conservative values, keep debating the issues, and keep pointing out to people the greatness of America and why we don't want to or need to change it. Encourage all your conservative and Republican friends not to sit idly by, not to assume this is in the bag, and not to count their chickens before they hatch, but to get involved. We have already voted and sent in our absentee ballots. Now it's up to you. On November 2, by all means go to your polling station and participate in the constitutional process and VOTE!
Lance, you always do such a good job reflecting my feelings as well!! I have been saying the very same thing about Barry getting re-elected on the merits of a Republican Congress. Conversely, look what happened to George W. He was riding high prior to the 2006 mid-term elections with unemployment at 4.6%, lower taxes, strong economy, then Congressional control went to the liberals because of the war and look where we are now. Bush is STILL being blamed and called by some, "the worst president, ever.' HE'S NOT RESPONSIBLE, FOLKS, the Democrat-controlled Congress is!!! Just as in the case of Clinton, HE'S NOT RESPONSIBLE for the surplus, the Republican majority did that!! The fact is, our electorate has become so fickle and uninformed, they vote how ever the wind blows and have NO IDEA how our government really works. The president doesn't make the laws, all he does is sign them. What's scary is our current situation of a socialist president who has a punch list that he hands over to adoring minions like Pelosi and Reid who are groveling at his feet to do whatever bidding he desires, and We The People are left to pay the bill.
ReplyDeleteWe need to return to the days of smaller government when THEY worked FOR The People rather than The People working for THEM. Since the early 1980's our government has become corrupted by politicians rather than cared-for by stewards of the Constitution.