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November 09, 2006

Post-election thoughts

On election day, 1994, I was a couple of weeks shy of 18.

That was the year that the Republicans took control of Congress. With Democrat Bill Clinton in the White House, it was the beginning of gridlock. For all the talk of bipartisanship and cooperation, all we saw accomplished was the impeachment of a president for adultery (something that's not even against the law in the U.S.) and the creation of a new grassroots group called MoveOn, which quickly turned into a mainstream money-making machine for Democratic candidates.

And here we are, 12 years later, and we're talking about bipartisanship and cooperation.

I hope not. I think we could use two solid years of gridlock. Honestly. Because when gridlock is the result, debate is frequently what replaces it. Sure, there will be a lot of yelling at first, particularly between the Congressional leadership and the White House, but I look forward to two years of everyone putting forth their views on same-sex marriage, minimum wage laws, global warming...

The thing is, everyone's saying this election was a referendum on the war in Iraq. So why did we elect so many pro-war (and pro-gun and anti-choice) Democrats?

What this election was, was a collection call. When the prez won the 2004 election, he said, "I have political capital, and I intend to spend it." Well, he over-spent, and now voters have come to collect.

What I want to hear for the next two years is open, honest discussion, and see where we can be in 2008.

As for Bob Gates replacing Donald Rumsfeld as Secretary of Defense, I'm on the fence. On the one hand, I think Gates would have only taken the job if he thought he'd have the autonomy to make some decisions – and effect some change. He turned down the National Intelligence job; he told #41 not to go all the way to Baghdad during Desert Storm.

On the other hand, I don't think we're going to see much change actually happen in Iraq. It's not as though a Democratic Congress can tell the DoD how to run their war; we know Bush isn't interested in trying to figure things out.

For a change, we needed a revolution. What we got instead was a beating. I think a beating will sustain us for a couple of years, but in 2008, it will be time for a revolution.

Posted by josh at November 9, 2006 04:20 PM

Comments

Your last paragraph is a great way of putting it. I think the other shoe has yet to drop.

Posted by: NYCO at November 9, 2006 06:25 PM

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