I hope that many of the Democratic bloggers and pundits realize that their tone comes across a bit arrogant when they believe that liberals will control 2/3rds of the Government come January of 2009, and that somehow this reign of power will last 10-20 years at the bare minimum.
It was the same arrogance that helped to bring down the Republican party as they strove for a "permanent majority" in Congress, and later The White House. That ended last November...and a large part of the reason was a certain arrogance that came with the power that the Republicans gained between 1994 and 2000.
It was also that same arrogance from the Democrats that helped bring about the 1994 Republican Revolution in the first place.
Considering approval ratings of the Democratic-controlled Congress are only a few percentage points away from Bush's ratings right now, Democrats really have little to be joyous about. Listening to the bloggers and pundits from the left, who are ever the optimists about their own party...you'd think their approval ratings were easily in the 60's.
The Democrats must be careful. It was this same attitude that carried Bill Clinton to a win in 1992, and then cost them Congress in 1994. The party is coming across as fake, malevolent, single-minded, ineffective, and indifferent to many voters, who feel the party is not holding to their 2006 campaign promises as well as only focusing on bringing down the Bush administration instead of "reaching across the aisle"...and their hopes for gains in 2008 are only buoyed by Republican missteps.
There is a reason that, for the past 39 years, 27 of those years have seen a Republican as President...and out of the 12 years with a Democrat as President, 6 of those had a Republican majority in Congress.
And the 4 most miserable years for our country (Jimmy Carter's term) just happened to coincide with the last large Democratic majority in Congress...mere coincidence? I think not...
Democrats beware...your overconfidence may be part of your eventual pitfall.
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2 comments:
Congressional approval ratings are always low. If Democrats in key districts had low ratings that'd be one thing, but until that shows up there's no reason to expect Dems won't hold Congress even if a few seats (FL-16 and TX-22 come to mind) go GOP.
You raise a good point. In 2008, I wouldm't be surprised at all if Congress stayed in Democratic power...especially since the Democrats have less to lose than the GOP.
However, the idea that if the Democrats gain the White House and hold onto Congress in 2008 will lead to a 20+ year reign of power...I don't see it happening.
If we see a succession of Democrats in the White House, people will naturally vote for Republicans, as it's part of the concept of "balance of power" in many voters minds.
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