The Right State

According to Fox News, Robert Gates, currently the President of Texas A&M University, has been tapped by President Bush to replace Donald Rumsfeld as the new Secretary of Defense.  Obviously the President has decided to replace Rumsfeld in the aftermath of the 2006 elections when the Republicans lost the House and possibly the Senate.  This is either too little too late or an effort by the President to stave off hearings in Congress about the conduct of the war.  Most likely the later.  In the run up to the elections, the Democrats have continually called for Rumsfeld’s head and hearings as to what Bush knew about WMDs in Iraq.  Even calls for impeachment has been openly discussed.

This appears to be a President who is running scared.  He is caving into the demands of Democrats before the new Speaker even takes office.  He has already acknowledged that he will have to give in to the Democrats on multiple areas including spending and securing the border.

This much is certain, George Bush is no Ronald Reagan.  President Bush needs to grow a backbone.  Giving in to the Democrats will not work.  Bush should remember what happened to his father, George H.W. Bush, when he sought to give in to the Democratic demands to raise taxes.  Look what happened to him.  After pledging to ‘read my lips, no new taxes’  the elder Bush was lampooned by the Democratic Party for his failure to keep his promise.  His ‘read my lips’ became a huge joke for the other party.  All this when he expected the Dems to acknowledge his courage for raising taxes.  Bush’s pledge was then used against him successfully in the 1992 election by Bill Clinton.

This is a part of history the current President should remember.  Politics is war.  The other side will not acknowledge any compromise as heroic.  Their motto of ‘no good deed will go unpunished’ is the norm.  They see any kind of compromise as a weakness and they will go for blood.

It is only a matter of time before the Dems go after and attack Robert Gates.  After all, he just came from that ultra conservative campus of Texas A&M University.  And all the liberals know nothing progressive comes out of A&M.

The blootletting has just started, especially if President Bush is already caving in to the Democrats demands.

Tags: President Bush, Texas Aggies, Texas by Chuck
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I listened to Chet Edwards this morning on WTAW.  He had some interesting insight into this election.  Edwards said the Democrats did not have a mandate saying that this vote was mainly against the Republican leadership than for the Democrats.  I think he is right.  This election was not for the Democrats but against the Republicans.  It is worth noting that almost every Democratic winner who took a Republican seat ran as a conservative.  So in that sense, liberalism also lost.

Robdog Snoopcat’s Blog pretty much nails down how most Republicans feel betrayed by their Republican leadership.  This election was lost by those in Washington.

It wasn’t the liberal media’s fault.

It wasn’t the liberal democrat’s fault.

It wasn’t even the morons that voted for the

liberal democrats fault. And yes, you

are morons.

The blame lies solely with the Republican

leadership and President Bush.

If you don’t lead, they won’t follow.

And… They didn’t. (snip)

I’m tired of voting for the lesser
of two evils…

Amen to that.  Total lack of leadership on all levels.

I could ask if the Republicans have learned anything from this election, but the only thing it really shows is the fickleness of the voters who are being extremely short-sighted.  Why any conservative would want Nancy Pelosi as Speaker of the House is beyond my comprehension.  The left wing wacko California liberal views are not representative of the newly elected members of the Democratic Party nor of America in general.  Only time will tell if she truly wants to bridge the gulf between the two sides of the aisle.  We shall see.

On a historical note, Right Wing News has a quote from the Corner which shows that last night’s election returns were usual for an incumbent President in his second term.

Since WWII, the party of the incumbent President has typically lost more than 30 seats in the House of Representatives and six seats in the Senate during the second midterm. In addition, in the five wartime congressional elections since 1860, the President’s party has lost an average of 32 House seats and five Senate seats.” — From an article quoted at the Corner

No wonder Chet Edwards does not think the Democrats have a mandate, because they don’t.  History just was not on the Republican side which is exactly what the GOP was trying to do and you can’t beat history.

Tags: Democrats by Chuck
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For the roundup of the elections in Texas, Lone Star Times has the roundup. In my home county of Grimes and adopted county of Brazos, the Republicans have cleaned house with the exception of Chet Edwards who happens to be supported by a lot of conservatives for some odd reason.

Statewide Races — GOP Sweep

• Governor: Hairspray wins with about 40%. Chris Bell’s at 29%, Grandma’s at 18%, and the Kinkster is pulling up the rear with 11%.
• Lt. Governor: Darth Dewhurst beats Maria Luisa Alvarado in a landslide. Dewhurst changes his shirt in celebration.
• Attorney General: Greg Abbott whips David Van Os, 61-36.
• Comptroller: Susan Combs rolls over Fred “Yes, this is my real name” Head, 61-36. Hopefully we’ll see another dirty novel.
• Land Commissioner: Jerry Patterson spanks VaLinda Hathcox, 57-40.
• Agriculture Commissioner: Todd Staples beats Hank Gilbert, 56-41.

Now what? On to 2008 and a nation voting while the US is not in Iraq. Sees the war in Iraq was what weighted most heavily on the minds of voters. Texas followed the Republican line of thinking, but the rest of the nation didn’t. Oh, well. Maybe next time.

Tags: Texas, Politics by Chuck
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Tonight’s election results are not looking good for the Republican Party. The night started out with the Democrats needing 15 seats to win the House and 6 to win the Senate. It looks like the Democrats may win both with Virginia the only holdout. The Montana and Missouri seats are also undecided but leaning Democrat. If the Democrats win, they will have won mainly by calling for change. Now, since they have won, the Dems are going to have to say more than things need to ‘change.’ Its time to put up or shut up.

There are two things that stand out from this election. First is the number of Democrats who are running as conservatives. Some of the candidates seem to be true conservative Democrats like Heath Shuler. Others, like Harold Ford of Tennessee, are not conservative at all. Either way, Democrats have to run as closet Republicans in order to win elections.

Secondly is the number of Republicans who had to cross over and vote for the Democrats. In states which should have been solidly Republican, people voted for the Democrat, especially in the South. This is surprising since a bad Republican is still better than a good Democrat. This is no longer ‘hold your nose and vote.’ It is more like close your eyes, hold your nose, and plug up your ears and then vote.

The Democrats now say they want to work across the aisles and work with Republicans now that they have won both. The only problem is they have not tried to work with anyone in the past. They have continually blocked every effort of Republicans to get anything done and then blamed the lack of action on Republicans.

Leadership is doing, not just talking. Soon we will see if the Democratic Party is good at leading Congress. Hopefully the President will veto any of their more ‘progressive’ legislation. I for one do not hold out much hope for Congress being able to get anything worthwhile done.

Right now, I am still trying to get used to hearing ‘Speaker of the House–Nancy Pelosi.’ (gag)

Tags: Democrats, Politics by Chuck
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