Election Had Little to do with War
by Big Dog on Jan 11, 2007 at 12:13 Political
Ever since the November elections the Democrats have been beating this drum to the tune of “Americans spoke in the last election and the said they want this war to go in a different direction.” Every time a Democrat opposes what the Administration is doing with regard to the war you will hear some version of this meme. This is not what America wanted, this is not what America voted for, Americans made it clear. All of this is false and the crutch of some mandate is what helps Democrats who are too weak to lead. They use a falsely perceived notion about the election and the war to push their agendas. Unfortunately, if they keep saying this enough plenty of people will begin to believe it. The fact is, the loss was not unexpected with regard to the midterm election of a two term President. This has happened historically and has nothing to do with the war. Democrats who refuse to admit that Bush’s huge 2004 win was a mandate will have us believe that their meager pick up in the House and Senate is a mandate to end the war. Go figure! To be clear, here is the historical breakdown from a piece Ann Coulter wrote:
In fact, if the Democrats’ pathetic gains in a sixth-year election are a statement about the war in Iraq, Americans must love the war! As Roll Call put it back when Clinton was president: “Simply put, the party controlling the White House nearly always loses House seats in midterm elections” — especially in the sixth year.
In Franklin D. Roosevelt’s sixth year in 1938, Democrats lost 71 seats in the House and six in the Senate.
In Dwight Eisenhower’s sixth year in 1958, Republicans lost 47 House seats, 13 in the Senate.
In John F. Kennedy/Lyndon Johnson’s sixth year, Democrats lost 47 seats in the House and three in the Senate.
In Richard Nixon/Gerald Ford’s sixth year in office in 1974, Republicans lost 43 House seats and three Senate seats.
Even America’s greatest president, Ronald Reagan, lost five House seats and eight Senate seats in his sixth year in office.
So the seat pick up is nothing more than a matter of history. One would never know that by listening to Democrats like Pelosi and Durbin. This is the reason they are flip flopping on their earlier assertions that we needed more troops in Iraq. Yes, that is right. Many of the Democrats said that we did not have enough troops and that we needed more. Many, including Nancy Pelosi and harry Reid. Now, they are using their meager pick up as a mandate to remove our troops from Iraq and to oppose the President’s plan to send more troops. They can dislike the idea all they want but they can do very little about it. The President has Constitutional authority to use the troops, move the troops, and deploy the troops. Despite Ted Kennedy’s best efforts, the Congress can not decide how troops are used. The can try to make the President justify it or withhold money but he can still send them without the money. Congress can not stop that.
Congress is setting itself up for some problems. They are opposing the President with this false claim that they are enforcing the wishes of the public as laid out in the last election. They are going to try to pigeon hole the president and they are going to try to make it tough for him. They do not have a veto proof majority so if they expect him to give a bit of what they want they need to give a bit of what he wants. Being the party in power might give them sway over the minority in Congress but the President is not hostage to their plans. He can veto the minimum wage increase (which he should anyway). They could not over ride such a veto. He will most assuredly veto stem cell research but that is another area where they would benefit from negotiations, ones that will not happen if they keep screwing with the POTUS.
I personally hope he has the sense to veto a great deal of the stuff they send forward. He has a lot of power and while he might not get what he wants, he can ensure that he does not get the things he prefers not to have. The president needs to dust off that mighty veto pen and start using it. Screw this idea of a legacy, keep the pressure on the left and disrupt their harmful agenda.
As for the idea that Americans want a new direction for the war. This is true, all real Americans want us to go balls to the walls and win. I understand winning is a new concept to the left, so much so that they do not even know how to do their jobs, but all real Americans know what it means to win and we want to win this war. So let’s dispense with this mindless prattle about direction, recognize the election for what it was (historical trend) and let’s get on with winning the war.
Related:
NYT
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