Election 2009, Republicans Win 2009, Democratic Losses
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Thursday November 5, 2009
After three weeks of vacation and time to recover from a virus, the Zinger is back.
Today's Zinger:
The Morning Briefing:
Now to today's topic. I must say that it has been difficult to sit back and read the news of the past month without Zinging back. Health care continues to heat up, there were the elections in key races across the country, Iran continued the nuclear rope-a-dope and Afghanistan held their quasi elections. The economy produced some strong results but unemployment moved higher and the need for further economic stimulus is in discussion.
Today’s Zinger looks at the lessons of the 2009 elections. The Republicans are quick to declare victory, but did they win because of their political platform, or did they win because independents fled the Democrats governance? The elections are not necessarily an indicator of things to come.
It used to be elections were about who won and how their stand on the issues trumped those of their competitor. Today, it’s about who lost and who was able to paint the opposition as the problem while remaining vague on their own positions.
Do you remember back just a few years ago when the Republicans had control of Congress? With enough votes to carry any legislation that they proposed, the Republicans legislated their political platform of lower taxes, a ban on gay marriage and abortion, support of business and less government oversight. The Republicans were also responsible for massive spending on the war in Iraq, the war in Afghanistan, the war on terror, and the adoption of increased Medicare benefits for prescription drugs. Like any powerful organization in power, the Republicans used their power to push through billions of dollars of earmarks, special interest, spending. Rather than raise taxes to fund their spending spree, the Republicans paid with credit, leaving a $4 trillion deficit. The Congressional Budget Office estimated that the Federal deficit would lead to $12 trillion in the five years based on the commitments and spending of the Bush years.
During the early Bush years, the talk was of the Democrats in disarray and no longer relevant. Rather than pushing their own alternatives to the Republican legislation, the party adopted the “No” platform, basically voting in block against all proposed legislation that the powerful Republican’s crafted. The Democrats attacked on the war front. Who can forget Senator Harry Reid declaring, “the war is lost”, referring to Iraq, and voting against any and all spending and support for the war. With a war weary public, the Democrats were sure that the war would be their tipping point, the public defecting from the Republicans. Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid tried to blame Bush for the “failed policies” on the international front when Iran was trying to gain a nuclear capability and North Korea was flexing its nuclear muscle. The Democrats complained of “prisoner abuse” in the use of waterboarding, yet we have learned that the Speaker knew of the waterboarding and that it had not been used since 2002. The Democrats blamed Bush for anything and everything that did or may have gone wrong and many things that were not wrong but they attacked anyway. It wasn’t until the unexpected collapse of the lending system did they find the real ammunition to dislodge the Republicans.
Now, the Democrats hold control of Congress. With enough votes to legislate their full agenda, the party has been aggressive enacting laws to remake America with legislation such as “cap and trade” and health care “insurance” reform. These programs come with a very high price tag. The Republicans have adopted the same legislative approach used by the Democrats during the Bush years. Just say “No”. After all, it appeared to be effective for the Democrats. Rather than offer their own alternatives, which could be criticized and attacked by the opposition, the Republicans would rather speak in broad terms and raise concern in the minds of the electorate about the Democrat’s proposals.
Last night, elections 2009, we learned two valuable lessons as the nation voted in key races.
1) The Republicans are back. Not of their own making, but rather a defection from the Democrat’s approach to governing their states. Two key governor’s races were won by Republican’s (Virginia and New Jersey).
2) The Republican’s still don’t have a winning message as they lost the 23rd congressional seat in New York. For the first time in 100 years, this seat will be held by a Democrat. The cause of the change, the Republican’s could not agree on a candidate with a key message. As a result, two candidates ran with different messages. One, a Limbaugh style Republican dedicated to historical Republican rhetoric and the other a Conservative with a more center right message. The politics in the Republican camp ended up hurting both candidates.
3) The Democrats will have to modify their path forward. They will either have to move quickly to get their major legislation passed before the next election and risk further voter revolt to the pace of change or they will have to change their ambition to appeal to voter reaction.
In Conclusion:
There is no doubt that many Americans are “mad as hell and will not take it anymore”. The political strategy of attack the opposition seems to work. The Republican’s will most likely regain many seats in Congress in the 2010 elections as the economy continues to struggle, the war in Afghanistan presses on, the nuclear ambitions of Iran gain fuel and Congress passes new taxes to stem the deficit and pay for new social programs. These taxes will hit the majority of Americans and they will vote their displeasure.
The Republicans still need to figure out who they really are and craft a message that embraces the opportunity for all. In 2010, Republicans can't expect the voter to blindly cast a Republican vote in opposition to the Democrats nor can the Democrats expect the voter to cast a vote for their candidate in opposition to George Bush. The loss in the 23rd district of New York was a wake up call for the Grand Old Party. The Loss of the Virginia and New Jersey Governor's race is a wake up call to the Democrats. Each of these parties need to think more clearly about their own strengths and agenda rather than trying to attack the opposition and being vague with respect to their own agenda.
Who Said It:
Will Rogers
Today's ZingerToon:
Recent ZingerKing Articles:
Articles can be found under “Recent Articles” in the purple sidebar. Older articles can be found in the archives that are stored by month. These are found at the bottom of the purple sidebar. Here is a list of the most recent articles.Click here to access the archives www.ZingerKing.com
The Cost of The Olympics. Chicago's Bid
Health Care and Illegal Immigrants
Obama's Eight Month Report Card
Climate Change and Afghanistan
Missile Defense in Czech Republic and Poland
Escalating the War in Afghanistan: Pelosi and Obama
President Obama's Speech To Congress Regarding Health Care
Part I: Implications of a Radical Change in Life Expectancy
Zingers Alternative For health Care Reform
The Tug Of War Of Special Interest Groups and Health Care Reform
Credibility Of The Administration Is Challenged
Taming The Angry Mobs
Creating A Free Market Alternative to Government Health Care
Cash For Clunkers
You can access these and other articles at www.ZingerKing.com
Shameless Request For Support:
ZingerKing operates without advertising or government funding (obviously). The purpose is to inform and educate its readers about economic and political issues that affect our lives.
Help ZingerKing grow. Have you Zinged someone lately? Please forward a link to ZingerKing to a friend, family member or neighbor. If you enjoy reading the Zinger please subscribe (see the subscribe box at the top of the article in the purple side band). Subscribers receive the"Morning Briefing" when published with a link to the full article.Periodic alerts are sent to subscribers only with important updates and insights into critical issues. Your email address will not sold to others and will not be shared.
Write To Us:
You can comment on any article by clicking on the comment button at the bottom of each article or you can write to us at ZK@ZingerKing.com
____________________________________________________________________________
Thursday November 5, 2009
After three weeks of vacation and time to recover from a virus, the Zinger is back.
Today's Zinger:
Political Spin. How A Loser Becomes A Winner.
The Morning Briefing:
Before we get started, here's a little sidebar regarding automobile sales in October. After a strong September, led by government subsidy and rebates, auto sales were flat in October (i.e. no month to month change). However, sales would have declined except for three categories of vehicles. Large SUV's (up 39.6%), crossovers (+19.2%) and midsize cars (up 9.6%) were the only categories that improved month to month. Small SUV's, small cars, large cars, minivans, etc were all lower by approx 20%. So much for the American consumer wanting smaller and more fuel efficient cars. I guess as long as the government subsidizes the smaller vehicles they will sell. Since America now owns most of General Motors and the government has forced the company to produce electric and small cars, you have to wonder how much subsidy will be required to sell these vehicles when they come to market next year and how long the government can push a public companies strategy?
Now to today's topic. I must say that it has been difficult to sit back and read the news of the past month without Zinging back. Health care continues to heat up, there were the elections in key races across the country, Iran continued the nuclear rope-a-dope and Afghanistan held their quasi elections. The economy produced some strong results but unemployment moved higher and the need for further economic stimulus is in discussion.
Today’s Zinger looks at the lessons of the 2009 elections. The Republicans are quick to declare victory, but did they win because of their political platform, or did they win because independents fled the Democrats governance? The elections are not necessarily an indicator of things to come.
It used to be elections were about who won and how their stand on the issues trumped those of their competitor. Today, it’s about who lost and who was able to paint the opposition as the problem while remaining vague on their own positions.
Who Said It:
"If you ever injected truth into politics you'd have no politics."
The Discussion:
Do you remember back just a few years ago when the Republicans had control of Congress? With enough votes to carry any legislation that they proposed, the Republicans legislated their political platform of lower taxes, a ban on gay marriage and abortion, support of business and less government oversight. The Republicans were also responsible for massive spending on the war in Iraq, the war in Afghanistan, the war on terror, and the adoption of increased Medicare benefits for prescription drugs. Like any powerful organization in power, the Republicans used their power to push through billions of dollars of earmarks, special interest, spending. Rather than raise taxes to fund their spending spree, the Republicans paid with credit, leaving a $4 trillion deficit. The Congressional Budget Office estimated that the Federal deficit would lead to $12 trillion in the five years based on the commitments and spending of the Bush years.
During the early Bush years, the talk was of the Democrats in disarray and no longer relevant. Rather than pushing their own alternatives to the Republican legislation, the party adopted the “No” platform, basically voting in block against all proposed legislation that the powerful Republican’s crafted. The Democrats attacked on the war front. Who can forget Senator Harry Reid declaring, “the war is lost”, referring to Iraq, and voting against any and all spending and support for the war. With a war weary public, the Democrats were sure that the war would be their tipping point, the public defecting from the Republicans. Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid tried to blame Bush for the “failed policies” on the international front when Iran was trying to gain a nuclear capability and North Korea was flexing its nuclear muscle. The Democrats complained of “prisoner abuse” in the use of waterboarding, yet we have learned that the Speaker knew of the waterboarding and that it had not been used since 2002. The Democrats blamed Bush for anything and everything that did or may have gone wrong and many things that were not wrong but they attacked anyway. It wasn’t until the unexpected collapse of the lending system did they find the real ammunition to dislodge the Republicans.
Now, the Democrats hold control of Congress. With enough votes to legislate their full agenda, the party has been aggressive enacting laws to remake America with legislation such as “cap and trade” and health care “insurance” reform. These programs come with a very high price tag. The Republicans have adopted the same legislative approach used by the Democrats during the Bush years. Just say “No”. After all, it appeared to be effective for the Democrats. Rather than offer their own alternatives, which could be criticized and attacked by the opposition, the Republicans would rather speak in broad terms and raise concern in the minds of the electorate about the Democrat’s proposals.
Last night, elections 2009, we learned two valuable lessons as the nation voted in key races.
1) The Republicans are back. Not of their own making, but rather a defection from the Democrat’s approach to governing their states. Two key governor’s races were won by Republican’s (Virginia and New Jersey).
2) The Republican’s still don’t have a winning message as they lost the 23rd congressional seat in New York. For the first time in 100 years, this seat will be held by a Democrat. The cause of the change, the Republican’s could not agree on a candidate with a key message. As a result, two candidates ran with different messages. One, a Limbaugh style Republican dedicated to historical Republican rhetoric and the other a Conservative with a more center right message. The politics in the Republican camp ended up hurting both candidates.
3) The Democrats will have to modify their path forward. They will either have to move quickly to get their major legislation passed before the next election and risk further voter revolt to the pace of change or they will have to change their ambition to appeal to voter reaction.
In Conclusion:
There is no doubt that many Americans are “mad as hell and will not take it anymore”. The political strategy of attack the opposition seems to work. The Republican’s will most likely regain many seats in Congress in the 2010 elections as the economy continues to struggle, the war in Afghanistan presses on, the nuclear ambitions of Iran gain fuel and Congress passes new taxes to stem the deficit and pay for new social programs. These taxes will hit the majority of Americans and they will vote their displeasure.
The Republicans still need to figure out who they really are and craft a message that embraces the opportunity for all. In 2010, Republicans can't expect the voter to blindly cast a Republican vote in opposition to the Democrats nor can the Democrats expect the voter to cast a vote for their candidate in opposition to George Bush. The loss in the 23rd district of New York was a wake up call for the Grand Old Party. The Loss of the Virginia and New Jersey Governor's race is a wake up call to the Democrats. Each of these parties need to think more clearly about their own strengths and agenda rather than trying to attack the opposition and being vague with respect to their own agenda.
Who Said It:
"If you ever injected truth into politics you'd have no politics."
Will Rogers
Today's ZingerToon:
Articles can be found under “Recent Articles” in the purple sidebar. Older articles can be found in the archives that are stored by month. These are found at the bottom of the purple sidebar. Here is a list of the most recent articles.Click here to access the archives www.ZingerKing.com
The Cost of The Olympics. Chicago's Bid
Health Care and Illegal Immigrants
Obama's Eight Month Report Card
Climate Change and Afghanistan
Missile Defense in Czech Republic and Poland
Escalating the War in Afghanistan: Pelosi and Obama
President Obama's Speech To Congress Regarding Health Care
Part I: Implications of a Radical Change in Life Expectancy
Zingers Alternative For health Care Reform
The Tug Of War Of Special Interest Groups and Health Care Reform
Credibility Of The Administration Is Challenged
Taming The Angry Mobs
Creating A Free Market Alternative to Government Health Care
Cash For Clunkers
You can access these and other articles at www.ZingerKing.com
Shameless Request For Support:
ZingerKing operates without advertising or government funding (obviously). The purpose is to inform and educate its readers about economic and political issues that affect our lives.
Help ZingerKing grow. Have you Zinged someone lately? Please forward a link to ZingerKing to a friend, family member or neighbor. If you enjoy reading the Zinger please subscribe (see the subscribe box at the top of the article in the purple side band). Subscribers receive the"Morning Briefing" when published with a link to the full article.Periodic alerts are sent to subscribers only with important updates and insights into critical issues. Your email address will not sold to others and will not be shared.
Write To Us:
You can comment on any article by clicking on the comment button at the bottom of each article or you can write to us at ZK@ZingerKing.com
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