I hope he is wrong.  I wouldn’t call losing ten to fifteen seats and holding on to the House by the slimmest of margins victory.  I would call that a moderate to strong repudiation of the current Congress.

A GOP “victory” would mean two things.  One, the Democratic party is so unappealing to the American people that a listing Republican party is still preferable.  Second (and worse), it would tell the Republicans that all of their free spending, big government ways are A-OK.

It’s worth mentioning that the Dems just came out with a new slogan: “common good.”  I don’t know about you, but that sends chills down my spine.  It is the frankest admission of socialist intentions that I have seen from them.  The Democratic party has moved so far left in recent years that they more closely resemble a socialist party now.  But, as I’ve said before, while the Dems have been shifting left so have the Republicans.  The modern day Republican party is not so different from the 60’s era Democratic party.

Despite optimal conditions for a takeover the Democrats have not been able to dazzle the American people.  Maybe there is still a streak of individualism in most Americans.  But the Republicans’ policies are eroding their base.  They are leaving a sizable bloc of voters without a legitimate choice.  Will this give rise to a viable third party?  Not likely.  The financial and bureaucratic obstacles that have been put in place are all but insurmountable.  That leaves a number of questions.  Which party will shift to the right to claim these voters?  Are there enough free market conservatives to justify a shift?  Would a Republican loss in November provide the impetus for the party to move back to the principles of Goldwater and Reagan?

I’m hoping that the answer to the last question is yes.  Mark my words, though.  If the Republicans retain both the House and Senate there will be a Democrat in 1600 Pennsylvania come January 2009.  As their grip on power continues to erode the GOP will continue to abandon their principles to the point where Republican voters just give up.  The House and Senate will likely change hands as well in the 2008 election.  The GOP needs to start thinking long term.  It is OK to lose a battle in order to win the war.

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This entry was posted by Brian on Wednesday, October 18th, 2006 at 5:25 am and is filed under Politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site. Please note the copyright policy.