The Bush Factor In the Victory By Democrats
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
Most of the post-election editorial analysis lays the blame for the GOP losses on corruption and the war in Iraq. However, an examination of the results in the Northeast, the “blue” states, discloses the flaw in that conclusion.
New Yorkers re-elected Alan Hevesi as state comptroller even though he faces charges of fraud that may end his tenure in office. Andrew Cuomo is the state’s new attorney general even though he cannot account for the millions that went missing when he was in charge at HUD and, according to the New York Post, refuses to release his 2005 income tax return. New Jersey voted for Robert Menendez despite accusations of corruption involving millions in federal funding while he was a House member. Corruption charges apparently have an impact only on Republican politicians.
As for the war connection, Senator Lieberman was re-elected in Connecticut even though he lost the Democratic primary because of his pro-Iraq war position, while Senator Chafee lost in Rhode Island even though he voted against the war.
Instead of championing their own candidates’ positions, the Democrats tailored all their political ads to associate President Bush with their opponents. The reason, quite possibly, is because the only clear Democrat agenda was getting rid of Mr. Bush. There really is such a thing as the Bush Derangement Syndrome. It has been the driving force behind the Democrats, the mainstream news organizations, and the academic community. They hate him.
If President Clinton had done everything Mr. Bush has done since he’s been in office, he would be hailed as a hero and given credit for the booming economy, the low unemployment, and overseeing our nation’s security and the liberation of two countries. But Mr. Bush is an evangelical Christian, and while this is the greatest country in the world and we are a good people, I very much doubt that we have a moral majority.
Would a moral country have reelected so many times Senator Kennedy, who left Mary Jo Kopechne to drown in Chappaquiddick while he sought a cover story before reporting the accident? I don’t think so. A former Klansman, Senator Byrd, was just re-elected in West Virginia and is free to use the “n” word on network television because he puts the word “white” in front of it. Look at our culture, which revels in the profane and the licentious, and then you’ll understand why a political party that adopts an overtly religious façade will be targeted so viciously by the hedonists who rule our society.
I happen to hold the same values as our president, but perhaps I am a little more cynical in that I don’t believe many of those on the religious right should have had so much influence on the political scene. As much as I am anti-abortion, I also realize that many Americans do not have the strength of character to recognize the humanity of the unborn when it is inconvenient. Demanding litmus tests of potential candidates is self-defeating, and may explain why Republicans come up with so many weak performers on the campaign trail. This is not to suggest that the GOP recruit more moderates. The fact is that Republican moderates are simply liberal Democrats who don’t want their taxes raised.
I’m saying that until we work at changing the hearts and minds of people by helping the women in crisis pregnancies ourselves, expending so much energy on effecting legislative change is a waste of valuable time. The most dangerous place for a child in America is indeed in its mother’s womb, but most people don’t care.
Also, most Americans don’t want politicians to tell them how to live their lives. They have their rabbis, priests, and ministers to help guide them. Republicans need to get back to the core principles of their party. Buy Michael Zak’s book “Back to Basics for the Republican Party” for a clue on how to start. Most blacks today have no idea about the racist origins of the Democratic Party, and that’s our fault for ignoring this community. The GOP is up against the most powerful ally of the Democrats — liberal journalists who engineered this coup to get their left-wingers, Marxists, and socialists back in power. Their influence will wane when the public stops supporting them.
This should be an exciting, not gloomy, time for the Republicans, as the culling of its party has begun. Byebye, Republicans in name only.
Mr. Bush was always able to work with decent Democrats when he was a Texas governor. Hopefully, a rare breed, the conservative Democrat, has been widely elected and we’ll finally see bipartisan legislation.
Now that the Democrats are in charge, the voters will finally get to see the emperor in his new clothes. Hee, hee, hee.