The Right State

There is an old saying which states: be careful what you wish for.  The Democrats seem ready to take control of Congress for the first time since 1994.  They have been harping how the President has screwed up the country, brought war on the peaceful people of Iraq and gave tax breaks to the rich.  The Dems won the election in November with one word: change.  A change from the status quo, but that was just about the extent of their massive plan to shake things up in Washington.  There was of course the little tidbits like raising the minimum wage, but that was all.  They called for changes in the Iraq, changes in the tax policy, and most of all, changes in the way the administration conducts business.  Well now its time to pay the piper.  They asked for change, the American people rewarded them with the opportunity to change things without a plan, and now it’s their turn.

Leading Democrats like Joe Biden want to call numerous hearings in an attempt, they say, to force the President to listen.  More than likely, the hearing will be a way to fine tune their own views on the war as they place their collective fingers to the wind to see which way the American people want them to go.

The hearing plans of Biden and the other committee chairmen highlight how much the political landscape in Washington has changed as a more critical Democratic Congress moves to directly challenge the president’s management of the war.

Democrats won control of Congress in an election that turned on voters’ unhappiness with the war. But Democrats have struggled for years to articulate an alternative to the Bush administration’s policies.

As recently as last year, when Rep. John P. Murtha (D-Pa.) called for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq, many in the party agonized over whether that position would permanently tar Democrats as weak. But as discontent with the war has grown, sapping Bush’s popularity, Democratic lawmakers have become increasingly outspoken.

And senior party leaders now appear to be uniting behind the call for a phased withdrawal of U.S. forces, a position that was bolstered by the release this month of the bipartisan Iraq Study Group’s report.

As usual, the Democrats lead by following the political winds and polls.  Real leadership is an anathema to the Democrats.  In fact, I do not know a single Democrat in Congress who shows real leadership and that includes Bill Clinton.

In every single issue from the war in Iraq to taxes, the Democrats have obfuscated and called for change while offering no plans to change things.  They waited until the release of the Iraq Study Group report to say they had a plan.  That is not leadership.

When a fellow Democrat like John Murtha calls for the immediate withdrawal of troops, the rest of his party play a game of hide and go seek with the media.  That is until they think the political winds have changed enough to take a chance on such a divisive statement as abandoning Iraq to the terrorists. Even the term cut-and-run does not seem to bother them.  With a majority of the American people against this war, the Dems seem to be on surer footing.

There was a time when the Democrats could be counted on to defend America.  Great American presidents like Franklin D. Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, and John F. Kennedy were strong defenders of the American dream, of keeping America safe at a time of great peril.  What happened?  Where did all these great Democrats go?

Thank God we were not lead by the likes of Ted Kennedy, John Murtha, John Kerry, and Nancy Pelosi during those troubled times.  Otherwise, we would have really been in trouble.

They asked for their chance and now they have it.  The American people have spoken and gave the Democrats a chance to lead.  Unfortunately they find themselves in the unenviable position of having to learn how.  Having control of both chambers of Congress requires the Dems to actually lead, to do something other than criticize the administration and Republicans.  The Dems do not have a large window of opportunity to demonstrate their leadership capabilities.  After all, two years is not a long time.  If the American people do not see what they were expecting, their tenure may be short lived indeed.  Again I say, be wary what you ask for.

Tags: Democrats, Politics //