Friday, February 26, 2010
John Burke
Opinion Editor
Throughout American history, political experiments have been attempted with varying degrees of success. But America’s recent flirtation with one-sided Democratic rule has exemplified the potential danger of this kind of experimentation.
America’s embrace of the Democratic Party was an experiment similar to countless others tried in the past. After years of war, economic hardship and virulent partisanship under a Republican government, the Democrats’ message of hope and change was a compelling call for a shift in the status quo.
The public embraced this change, hoping that it would solve the problems facing America.
After one year of Democratic control, America has not seen solutions to its problems. Instead, even more ills have arisen to plague an already sick nation. The deficit has grown by almost $1.5 trillion, unemployment has risen to over ten percent, and the debate over healthcare has created more partisanship in Washington.
The Democratic Party’s dominance has declined due to an unanticipated level of dissent that has been shown by the public.
Almost 40 House Democrats voted against congressional healthcare reform. Some, such as Democrat Representative Parker Griffith, even chose to change parties rather than support the partisan Democratic leadership.
In January, Scott Brown’s election to the U.S. Senate in Massachusetts showed even more dissatisfaction with the Democrats.
This senate seat had been held by Democrats since 1953 in one of the most traditionally liberal states in the country. At the very least, Brown’s victory shows that the public is disatisfied with the Democratic Party’s actions.
A new conservative resistance to the Democrats is developing within the Republican Party. The “Tea Party” movement’s popularity has spread throughout America under the leadship of figures like Mitt Romney, Glenn Beck and Newt Gingrich. This movement supports decreasing taxes, privatizing healthcare, and reducing the deficit.
The 2010 mid-term elections are expected to be the first chance for the Republicans to take back ground lost to Democrats in the 2006 and 2008 elections. The results of many current polls predict that Democrats are going to face difficult races with Republican challengers.
Recent Rasmussen polls have indicated that Republicans are very likely to win at least six seats in upcoming Senate contests. Even high-profile Democrats like Majority Leader Harry Reid was shown in a Feb. 5 poll to be trailing four relatively unkown Republican challengers.
Democratic Senators Evan Bayh of Indiana, Chris Dodd of Connecticut and Byron Dorgan of North Dakota also announced that they will not run for re-election because their chances for victory are so low.
Though taking back the Senate would be a lofty goal for the Republicans in 2010, it is a distinct possibility that Republicans will reclaim the House. This would make most of President Obama’s proposals nearly impossible to accomplish without compromise, prevent the liberal fringe of the Democratic Party from governing unilaterally and usher in more political unity.
America’s experiment with “change we can believe in” has caused economic turmoil and partisanship, and continuing under one-sided Democratic rule would only increase the magnitude of America’s problems.
Therefore, a new experiment must be attempted. While the nascent conservative movement may be just as new and unexplored as the Democratic proposals of 2008, its new popularity shows that it has the potential to heal the sickness that America is currently enduring.
This current “change”-driven experiment has placed America in a state of regression. The time has come to look toward a new, conservative-led experiment, one that will not only resolve our current difficulties, but lift America to a new height.
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