The Predicted “Republicane” Came Ashore: Winds of Change or More Hot Air?

The ill winds of the long-predicted “Republicane” blew through the electorate last night leaving in its wake a tidal wave of destruction on the Democratically controlled, representative house, of our federal legislature.  As an ominous low pressure system long apparent on the national radar, the barometer of political unrest foretold of its coming.

The bellwether question was, “Are you better off now, than you were two years ago?”  And the truthful answer is quite simply, no, and the why doesn’t matter.  The insight of eight years of George Bush doesn’t put food on the table…hell, 30 years of tragic trickle-down Reagan-Bush, NAFTA/Telecom Clinton, and the war-hungry Bush-baby don’t pay the mortgage.  Furlough days, depleted wages, and belittled retirement funds are blind to political obstruction.  Unemployed American citizens have little regard for SCOTUS’s Citizen’s United.  When offered a choice to change back, the nervous populous accepted.    Once again, hope was branded and sold on the off chance things can get better.

So, today, we on the Left wake up to the morning after the storm and start assessing the damage.   It seems that only half the capital project was flooded by the “Republicane”.  A cyclone spun off dropping a dwelling on the wicked witch of the east.  It was craps for the show-girl in Nevada, and the Buck stopped in Colorado.  There was a smack-down in Connecticut, and perhaps the incumbent from Alaska can see victory from her House.  Thanks to those who chose to ride it out and throw a “Republicane Tea Party”, the smaller of our two cameral houses still stands.  It’s weakened, but we can re-build on that.

To my Republican friends, I say take your victory lap; to the victor go the spoils of the storm.  Emotionally loot the electorate while you can, but soon you have to govern.  Ask the previous Congress, the construction of the clean-up is much more difficult to accomplish than the bureaucratic blow-down.  Add to that the blow-back from the new, less-than-socially-stable, tea-steeped stepchild of your party, and you might find yourself in a bit of foul weather yourselves.

Lord help us, the Democrats are forced into a position of compromise, more so than when they held historic majorities in Congress just two years ago, but the Republicans can no longer maintain the mantra of “not no, but hell no”, either. Conservative approval ratings languish in the cellar with Democrats, and to believe this election is some kind of mandate would be commensurate to believing Barack Obama was born in Kenya…oh, wait.  The President seems to believe there is common ground on education, energy, and infrastructure.  I anticipate there is some kinship there, but then I remember that Cap and Trade was initially a Republican concept that the Right ultimately rejected when associated by THIS President…but then again, Emancipation was a Republican idea, too, and look where we are now.

I admit, this was a “Republicane” of historic proportions, and the levies failed to hold back the tide of voter frustration, impatience, and resentment.  Is this an act of God?  No.  Is this a man-made mandate for Conservatives?  No.  It’s simply the American people, those everyday Americans who are un-employed, under-employed, and underneath their mortgages, saying we still want change.  They don’t want the branded kind of change that comes on bumper stickers, but real change.  They are not thinking about their long-term best political interests, they are thinking about feeding their families, making sure there is a roof over their heads, and sending their kids to college.  They are weary of treading the economic waters alone and are looking for a well-thrown flotation device.  I want to remind the new leadership of the House that the same old rhetoric is throwing them both ends of the life line.  For a nation that is flailing, where is the help in that?