I saw this article from Michael Barone and it solidified something I have been thinking about over the last week or so:
So why are Democrats less enthusiastic? And why has “the progressive donor base,” as Democratic consultant Jim Jordans reports, “stopped writing checks”?
I don’t think it’s just because the economy remains sour or that President Obama failed to jam a public option in the health care bill.
I find a more convincing explanation in an offhand phrase in a subordinate clause in a brief article by Adam Serwer of the Center for American Progress on the Washington Post’s opinion pages. “There’s no question,” Serwer writes, defying anyone to disagree, “that Obama has completely reversed on his promises to roll back Bush-era national security policies.”
For it is not economics but foreign policy that has motivated the left half of the Democratic Party over the last decade.
When Howard Dean’s supporters were declaring that they wanted to “take our country back” in 2003 and 2004, they weren’t talking about repealing the Bush tax cuts. They were talking about withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq and taking a more conciliatory and respectful stance to the leaders of Old Europe and revolutionary Iran.
The reason the hard left is unhappy with Obama in particular, and the Democrats in general is that they didn’t get their “hope” and “change” as quickly as expected. Now liberals are suffering from a lack of enthusiasm.
This brings me to my fear that what is happening to the D’s today, will happen to conservatives in 2012. Conservatives will have a (much needed) strong turnout this November and deliver a forceful push-back to Obama and the liberal Democrats policies thinking “well, that should do it.” Then, we go back to our lives expecting the Obama tax hike will be canceled in December and ObamaCare will be repealed by June 2011.
I’m notoriously wrong when it comes to predictions. I thought there was no way Obama would get elected and Michigan’s very own Governor Granholm would never get re-elected.
That being said, I will be surprised if it happens that quickly.
A Republican House of Reps will only be able to slow the Obama agenda down. Even on the outside chance that we Conservatives are able to pick up a majority in the Senate, Obama still has the veto and that will be difficult to overcome.
Obama still has the fawning press. They will circle the wagons with copious amounts of positive press in an effort to shape public opinion. Obama will grandstand and point fingers. He will sling mud and do everything he can to paint Tea Party conservatives as radicals. In short, there will be a concerted effort to smear conservatives.
2011 and 2012 will be difficult and at times disheartening.
Whatever happens, we should not become disappointed or disheartened. We are in a long fight to roll back our overreaching government. It has taken the progressive movement over 100 years to get to this point and it will take more than two years to turn it back.
It will take many more elections and many more fights to roll back the federal government back within its Constitutional limits.
Even though it will be a long and tough fight, I’m excited get the process started. I’ll be standing in line to vote bright and early November 2nd with all my fellow Tea Partier’s pushing back against the D’s Progressive agenda.
And I have the perfect victory song picked out for Election Night.
Bingo and it will take more than a couple of election cycles to cement this in D.C., state and local governments. None of my 600 plus group wants to be a new party……..we simply want the existing ones to clean up their legislative acts. No more “sponsoring of bills”, write them and read them, repeal bad legislation, stop the publish or perish mentality and if you actually try to clean up the mess created……you might possibly be elected for another term. We also believe in term limits, but disagree about the length, but the consensus is 4 for Congress and 2 for Senators.
That is about enough. No more career pols.
Great points!
Thanks for stopping by.
Four more weeks. November 2 is merely Round 1. Like you, Steve, I’m totally pumped. My daughter just turned 20 – totally jazzed to vote, too. My son is 17, turns 18 in January – is heartbroken that he can’t vote next month and must wait for Round 2.
It ain’t over ’til it’s over, patriots… and gearing up now for this November’s elections is just a taste, a prelude that will let us appraise what is needed to be done for the 2012 election battle.
Quick note: Sharron Angle has edged ahead of Dingy Harry in the most recent Rasmussen poll. Still too early for a prediction there in NV.
Imminent bloodbath… for the clueless statists, I wager. And I’m not a gambling woman, but this feels like a safe bet.
I’m ready to go as well. I want to try and remind people that this is going to be a long process and to not get discouraged.
I bet both you and your daughter are really excited for November 2nd. Its really cool that she gets to vote for the first time in such a pivotal election.