A New Day? Maybe
It seems like every election for the last several years has been touted as the most important election that we could ever have, and last night fell right in line. The GOP pundits were looking for their party to make up some ground on the one-sided elections the Dems had raked in over the last few years, and the Dems were quite committed to protecting them.
After it was all over, depending on whom you listened to, they both were victorious. Governor positions in New Jersey and Virginia were gobbled up by Republicans, with the Virginia results being in a landslide. The left bragged that for the first time in a hundred years, there will be a Democrat Congressman for the 23rd District of New York, and brushed off the Governor losses as typical and expected.
The GOP claimed that there is a turning tide in the nation, reflecting unrest with the path the President and Congress are taking us down. Michael Steele, head of the RNC, was all over the news this morning bragging about how the worm has turned and this is just a hint at what the 2010 elections will look like. All the while Democratic talking heads were pooh-poohing these results as having no connection to the President’s policies and overall popularity in the nation.
While all of this news media cacophony (robbed from @Cynnergies on Twitter) was going on, the most important message of the whole election, potentially, was ignored. It was embedded in New York’s 23rd District House seat election.
This battle was a result of Congressman John McHugh’s appointment to Secretary of the Army, leaving a vacant spot that would be filled by a special election. For most of the campaign, the two candidates representing the Democrat and Republican Parties were the main focus and a third candidate from the Conservative Party was there to be a minor spoiler. That is until he received the backing from former Governor Sarah Palin.
The GOP candidate, Deirdre Scozzafava, repelled some of the traditional Republican voters due to her moderate (liberal) viewpoints on some of the major issues, and these voters were all too ready to back Doug Hoffman once Palin pledged her support, which in turn prompted a firestorm of activity for Hoffman all over the country. After a couple of weeks, Hoffman passed Scozzafava in the poles and left her in the dust, prompting her withdrawal from the race a couple of days prior to the election. In an odd turn, she announced her support for the Democratic candidate after she dropped out of the race.
With only two candidates in the picture and Hoffman’s popularity gaining, the contest with Bill Owens (D) became very tight, with some polls even showing Hoffman as the leader on Election Day. The results did not favor him, however, with Owens winning by a 49% to 45% margin, giving the Democrats this seat for the first time in over a hundred years.
Hoffman, or the actual movement behind him, is the real story, however. Some of the GOP wanted to climb on the bandwagon after Hoffman gained so much success and the Dems have started the story of how the Republican Party is now rejecting moderates in their own party due to their radical turn to the right. This radical turn is being blamed on the likes of Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh pushing the radical agenda.
Wouldn’t it be nice if it were the fault of something else: people actually voting for candidates based on what they stand for and not who they stand with?
We’ve become so beholden to the two party system that both party’s main focus is to gain seats and power at any cost. The past couple of elections are primary examples. People voted predominantly Democrat across the board, prompting the GOP to say to themselves “What do we need to do to gain seats back?” The answer to this question is all too often a departure from the core principles the party was built on and move to the center, or a more moderate position, to gain the attention of independent voters.
This mentality brought on the likes of John McCain, Mike Huckabee and Mitt Romney as the leading GOP candidates for President, with most of these guys having a more moderate platform. What did it get them? Total loss, to the point of a filibuster-free Senate, an over powering majority in the House, and the Presidency. As result, the Republicans are now preaching about fiscal responsibility and limited government, thinking we’ve totally forgot the last 10-15 years where they were in control of both houses. How can you trust representatives who only represent what will get them elected?
Maybe our electorate is shifting away from party politics and looking at the principles and character of the candidates they’re voting for, rather than the letter in parenthesis following their name? The typical party supporters will say that’s unintelligent because it will split the party in half and guarantee a win for the other party. It looks like it was Scozzafava’s votes that did Hoffman in, so there’s likely truth to that theory, but look at the ground Hoffman made in such a short time. It was truly amazing.
This could be the preview of elections to come where voters will actually start asking the important questions of the candidates, hold them accountable for their answers, and not rely solely on their party affiliation to gain thee vote. If that is what’s happening, I applaud the Palin’s, Beck’s and Limbaugh’s of the world for opening people’s eyes and making them think a bit before offering their support to a party whose only loyalty is to the ability of gaining seats in Washington and the power they bring with them.
