The election is over. The post-mortems will occupy the media for weeks to come. Is America turning blue? Have the Republicans had their day?
Give me a break!
No, America is not changing color and the GOP will be back. The doctrine of “Project for the New American Century” has not yet been laid to rest. It’s sad, but true. This election was a protest over a president who ignored his people, and an administration that used political office to feather its own nests.
Two years ago, America re-elected George W Bush by a bigger majority than in 2000. Mind, it could hardly have got smaller! This time, marginally less than half America voted for the man. Most of the polls were close. America is hardly turning blue.
Midterms, in any nation, are often characterized by protest voting, and this one was no exception. If Democrats believe this is their turning point, and its all about coasting to the presidency in 2008, they’d better think again. The presidential race will be a whole different ballgame from the midterms.
Unless, of course, Pelosi and gang can pull something good out of their new blue bags over the next two years.
If they put their minds to it, that shouldn’t be difficult. There’s been enough corruption and scandal surfaced in the last twelve months to suggest an awful lot more still hidden under the White House carpets. Shaking it out, giving it a good airing, may provide enough political fodder to carry the voters for another twenty-four months.
It will take more than sorting Iraq and bringing the troops home. In another two years, George Bush would claim his policies achieved success, and many voters are crass enough to believe it. Couple that with a possible challenge by Senator John “two-faced” McCain, a darling of many on the ‘redder-side-of-blue’ America, and the suggestion of another Kerry debacle if Democratic nominations go their usual inept way, and you have a recipe for the biggest Republican rave-up in recent history, circa 2008.
America was battered emotionally by 9/11/2001. Its reaction was to kick out blindly, with disastrous consequences for most of the world. Those that suffered most were the ones not involved in 9/11. Those that gained the most were the Islamic extremists. It’s not just nations directly in the firing line that come off worst when America reacts so aggressively. No-one can have failed to notice the upsurge in violence around the globe in the last three years. Even in countries not directly effected by Islamic terrorism, violence has reared its ugly, barbaric head.
America has that effect on the world. When America practises peace, the world relaxes a little. When America roars, everyone becomes unsettled and mini-wars break out around the globe.
It’s an awesome responsibility, and one that Americans do not recognize easily. It’s the price of being the greatest; the most powerful.
America behaved like a spoilt child after 9/11. Like a schoolyard bully it lashed out at the weak; the innocent. Whoever was “do-able”. It supported a gang of schoolyard bullies out for all they could take, using a national disaster to subvert the course of world history for their own purposes.
It is a lesson in how complacency can have disastrous results. The Nazi party used complacency to rise to power in the 1930’s.
For now, the endgame is played out. The pieces have to be picked up and somehow put back together. Let us hope the Democrats have learned some lessons and take their new-found power seriously and responsibly. If not, 2008 could start it all over again.
Meanwhile, the “Project for the New American Century” will wait patiently to be unfurled once more.
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