What Is The Story Behind The Democratic Win In '06? (William Chirolas)

  William Chirolas -- World News Trust

  Nov. 10, 2006 -- Control of the narrative is what the right wing media do so well.  We continue to get news story selection and slant that pushes the latest Republican National Committee handout that the media editors/producers have received.

  Today the media were selling that the Dems won because they ran as Dem candidates folks who were really conservative Republicans. Seems that the Media are shocked to find out that the Democratic Party includes moderates, fiscal conservatives, war veterans, folks against abortion, gun owners, hunters, and a lot of voters who put family values ahead of all other issues.  Did the media notice that the Democrats got one-third of the evangelical vote?

  The media are also trying to sell the GOP's idea that Democratic party members will lose all future elections if they do things like oversight that reveals Bush and company's errors, corruption and incompetence (God forbid hearings develop proof of Bush law breaking and that leads to an impeachment resolution), or pass any of those laws that might help the non-rich or will result in a better planet being passed to our grandchildren.

  There was even one GOP cheerleader who saw a positive result for the GOP because  Santorum is now available for a seat on the Supreme Court! Another GOP cheerleader compared the result to 1986 and that election's loss of eight Senate seats by the GOP (to a 55-45 Dem majority) and a result in the House of a 258 Dems to 177 GOPers.

  Another GOPer was reduced to noting that at least there had been no major Democratic thrust into Dixie! Meanwhile Williams at NBC was investigating how unsupported our troops felt because of the folks at home voting for Democrats. I think it obvious that the Democratic Party will now control the House for many elections into the future, provided they do not try to mimic the GOP's arrogance of trying to govern as if the had a 90 percent Congressional majority rather than a 51 percent mandate, they do not push extreme ideas like a 100% estate tax, and they do not get greedy or corrupt.

  Competent, accountable leadership should be able to sell and pass a solidly left variation of just about all that is on the wish list of the left, as long as they do not try to run roughshod over those who might have alternative approaches to a solution.  Indeed, competent, accountable leadership with a GOP President equates to leadership that is willing to compromise, albeit only for a compromise that can be sold to the left that is the party's base.

  Meanwhile the Democratic Party Base, the Left, must remember that in '06 a property rights initiatives limiting eminent domain, an initiative against racial preference, and gay marriage bans won (the last in three states -- losing in one), while a special tax on oil companies initiative failed.

  The Left must also make peace with the fact that there is no majority if the conservative Democrats like those in the gang of 12, or newly elected fiscal conservatives like Jim Webb, are not made to feel welcome in the Party. The leadership can not be heavy handed with these folks. Pelosi and Reid need only to feign magnanimity, and then push a series of initiatives that Bush and the GOP will see as a choice between bad and worse.

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  William Chirolas brings 40 years of real-world business experience in local, state, national, and international tax, pensions, and finance to the world of blogging. A graduate of MIT, he calls the Boston area home, except when visiting kids and grandkids. He can be reached at:  \n This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

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