President Bush won big on election night. The Republicans picked up enough seats to control the Senate, and increased their margin in the House. Jim Talent beat Jean Carnahan – yeah! I think the election was in part a referendum on Bush’s conduct of the war, and the American people endorsed it. The odd thing about Bush is, he keeps his word. He said no assault on Iraq before the elections and we haven’t. He said the US would act with or without the UN, so if you’re pinning your anti-war hopes on Russia and France, don’t. Saddam’s days are numbered.
On the domestic front, I hope the Republicans don’t repeat the mistakes of the ’92 Democrats who had control of both houses and the Presidency. They then lurched to the left, fought with themselves on pet projects like universal healthcare, and passed idiocy like a big tax increase, all of which PO’d the electorate off so much the Republicans swept into power in Congress in ’94. So my hope is that instead of fighting over the whole loaf, or continuing to compromise at half a loaf, go for three-quarters of the loaf. Pass what you can, reform and revise existing programs rather than start new ones, don’t split between moderates and extremists, govern well, in other words, act like you expect to be in power for a while and don’t get in a big rush to get big changes rammed through during your moment in the sun. I’m hoping for more and sooner tax cuts, a ban on partial birth abortion, partial privatization of Social Security, a permanent elimination of the estate tax, a rein on spending, judicial nominees getting a fair hearing, and better copyright and internet law.
