Thank You, Mr. President
By Ed Lasky
AmericanThinker.com
America can certainly blame a lot of our problems on Barack Obama and the Democratic Party: trillions of dollars in debt, an eviscerated military, the ruin of our healthcare system through “reform” (now the world’s biggest fraud), sky-high food stamp and disability payments, the trampling of the Constitution, the collapse of our standing in the world. But, believe it or not, there are reasons to be grateful to them.
They have awakened a sleeping giant from a hallucinogenic dream that started in 2008, and that giant bellowed on Election Day. As Howard Beal might declare, we were mad as hell and would not take it anymore.
The aftermath of the election has been dramatic. Barack Obama been repudiated: his policies, after all, were on the ballot and many of his enablers are looking for jobs now.
But the victory was manifold -- deep and wide. The blue state model has been crumbling for years-decades -- and came to a tumbling electoral collapse on November 5th. The great experiment in liberalism has come up a cropper. The Democratic Party as a “brand” has been tarnished. Latest polls show that the Republican Party is more trusted to steer the future of the country than the Democratic Party.
They have lost the Senate; they have lost the House; and they have lost the country.
The New York Post editorial board opined :
Americans want a Republican Congress, not Democrats, to set the national agendaIn fact, a new Gallup poll suggests the tide of GOP victories corresponds to a shift in voters’ perceptions of the two major parties.
By an overwhelming 50-to-36 percent margin, Gallup found that Americans want congressional Republicans — not President Obama — to steer the country. (snip).
In fact, this year’s poll marks the biggest GOP advantage since Gallup started asking the question in 1992. At the same time, Gallup found favorable ratings for both Obama and his party have fallen to record lows.
George Condon writes at the National Journal, “From Congress to state capitals, the last six years have taken a huge toll on Democrats' fortunes”:
In 2009, Democrats had 60 senators, when you include the two independents who caucused with them; in 2015, they will have 45. In 2009, Democrats had 256 members of the House; in 2015, they will have 192. In 2009, Democrats had 28 governors; in 2015, they will have 18. In 2009, Democrats controlled both legislative chambers in 27 states; in 2015, they will control only 11. In 2009, Democrats controlled 62 legislative chambers; in 2015, they will control only 28 (with one tie and two still undecided).
The impact of the carnage in state legislatures on Obama's watch is hard to overstate. This is where the future classes of mayors, governors, and members of Congress are bred. This is where the boundary lines are drawn for congressional and legislative districts. This is where party leaders come from. And this is where the rules are made for party primaries and election laws are set. According to Tim Storey at the National Conference of State Legislatures, what we saw on Tuesday was an almost unprecedented "Republican wave," which he said, leaves "Democrats at their lowest point in state legislatures in nearly a century."
Even his home state of deep blue Illinois chose a Republican Governor, as did other blue states. Scott Walker won in Wisconsin; Sam Brownback in Kansas -- two governors reviled by the left won in routs.
Since Obama was inaugurated in 2009, Democrats have lost a net 32 state legislative chambers — more than half of the 62 chambers they controlled. Including Maryland, where they still have the seats to override vetoes by the new Republican governor, they exercise complete control over the legislative process in just eight states.
Republicans, on the other hand, now control 69 of the 99 legislative chambers — an all-time high for the party. If you include Missouri, where Republicans have the numbers to override vetoes by Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon, Republicans now completely control the legislative processes in 24 states.
Since 2010, Republicans have showcased their governors’ conservative agendas. Some of those governors have felt the sting of a voter backlash against some of those policies. Yet other than in Pennsylvania, they all won again, carrying red, blue and purple states. Nearly half of all Americans will now live in states under total Republican control; Democrats will govern unilaterally in states with fewer than 16 percent of Americans.
The Republican victory at the state level reflects a backlash against federal control and an embrace of federalism as a check on Big Brother. They also represent a rejection of the tax, spending, borrowing and anti-growth agendas that are the Democrats’ mantra. And that have destroyed the finances and futures of many states and their citizens. Federalism won. Americans give the edge to Republicans over Democrats on the handling of a wide range of issues. One might be tempted to write that the era of big government is over -- except of course, Bill Clinton said the same when he began the triangulation phase of his presidency. Yet, like a vampire, big government is a hard thing to kill -- someone has yet to find a stake to cut through its heart -- but Obama has helped.
There has been a referendum not just on Barack Obama, but on liberal policies. But the election results are more: they are a restoration of the vision of our Founding Fathers.
Thank you, Mr. President.
Pictorially, this map of the 114th Congress House of Representatives displays the red tide that swept through America.
This image is worthy of being on a flag, and far more iconic than, say, Shepard Fairey’s “Hope” poster of Barack Obama that was all the rage among his followers in 2008. Where are those posters now? Recycled.
The self-inflicted damage was severe. As Noah Rothman has noted “A generation of Democrats lost in the Obama era.” Much of the party’s talent pool, the young candidates that were being groomed to be national leaders, perhaps presidents, were crushed. They could have been contenders; they could have been somebodies. These run the gamut from attorneys general, governors, representatives, senators, to state treasurers. Gone, gone, gone, gone. The farm teams have been depleted. Who is left? Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, Steny Hoyer, Hillary Clinton, Jerry Brown, Joe Biden? If they were baseball players, would that be a promising team? Joe Biden disgracefully mocked McCain’s age in 2008. What say you now, Joe? Turnabout is fair play. These “leaders” held onto power too long and refused to let go and groom younger people to replace them. They are all 70, give or take a few years. That party now is at the risk of being seen as the party of old white men (and one woman). The Republican leaders, Rand Paul, Marco Rubio, Scott Walker, Paul Ryan, Kelly Ayotte to name but a few, are the young, dynamic candidates. To put an exclamation point to this observation: the youngest Representative in American history, newly-elected Elise Stefanik, is a Republican (and a woman) and from New York. Perhaps that is one reason why young people are becoming more conservative and not as willing to believe the promises showered on them by Democrats -- cynical pandering that has led to high college debt and low employment numbers. The Democratic Party has been hollowed out. Thank you, Mr. President.
Hillary Clinton, the presumptive Democratic Party nominee, will face a challenging time. Not only is she tainted by her association with a failed presidency, but her policy for years has been Big Government -- not exactly a winning unique selling proposition following eight years of Big Government failure. In the words of liberal columnist Ron Fournier, Obama has destroyed the credibility of government itself
Since President Obama fails to see the errors of his ways, since he continues to insult the American people, and since he intends to “stay the course” and further his agenda at all costs to not just Democrats but to all Americans, the forecast is increasingly unfavorable for Hillary becoming president in 2017. Obama might be competent to drive a golf cart, but give him the steering wheel for the ship of state was a mistake for which Hillary Clinton will pay the price, politically speaking.
This skepticism toward the federal government has now been compounded by cynicism and distrust toward Democrats (most Americans believe Obama lies on important issues) –of late given a boost by revelations from Jonathan Gruber regarding the Affordable Care Act. Hillary Clinton is not Obama’s inevitable successor. Thank you, Mr. President.
In 2008, at the height of Barack Obama adoration, he compared himself to Reagan (!) and John F. Kennedy. He said Reagan had “changed the trajectory of America” and that Kennedy moved the country in a fundamentally different direction -- both statements that reflected his own later boast that he would fundamentally transform America.
And so he has -- even if not the way he intended.
Thank you, Mr. President.