Last week
Newsweek ran a poll asking if Congressional races were hold right now would
they vote for the Republican or the Democrat candidate. 50% said they would go
Democrat while only 38% would go Republican. Hopefully this will send a message
of hope and vision to the Democratic leadership.
Democrats have not held control of the House since 1994.
After last year’s election, Democrats lost control of all Government, and it
seems the people are realizing that is a mistake.
The Republican’s have actually failed in keeping control.
They secure the votes needed to get any piece of legislation through they want,
but when something does not go their way they blame it on Democrats. It seems
like the Republicans are banking on an uneducated America more than they should.
Before Katrina, the Republican’s began fueling this
dissent. One item in particular that contributed to it was the battle over the
filibuster. Republican’s came out firing against Democrats when they threatened
a filibuster and were ready to vote it out. This was the last line of protection
we had in preserving our democracy as we know it.
Now the Democrats have an extra upper hand in increasing
their popularity and chances at regaining control next year. In the rebuilding
of the Gulf, there is going to be a lot of arguing over the handling of money.
The day after President Bush’s speech, numerous Republican’s came out and
started questioning fiscal responsibility. This is certainly showing America
that the well oiled machine the Republican party boasts to operate in fact is
not such.
When the additional $50 billion in aide was appropriated by
Congress last week, only 11 congressmen voted against it. Those 11 were all
Republicans. With that price tag now quadrupling, more Republican’s are sure to
oppose it in order to save their standing with conservative supporters. The
Democrats have a chance to exploit the disagreement between Republicans while
working to help the Gulf Coast.
Another warming sign for Democrats is the fact that more
American’s are once again seeing the benefits of big government. Poverty is a
hot item and the Democrats have always had the upper hand in dealing with class
issues. In order to deal with issues such as poverty, government has to play a
major roll. We saw through the Reagan years that the trickle-down theory did not
work. Bush’s economic plan is essentially the same and it is still a failed
experiment. A key sign to this is in the economy, where we hear about retail
sales growth yet that growth is attributed to high dollar luxury items –
something that middle and lower class do not enjoy.
Hopefully the Democrats will keep the course and increase
their strong hold over Republicans. The Democrats need to hold the Republicans
and President Bush to the fire when it comes to rebuilding the Gulf and keep on
top of the potential corporate abuse that will come out of the rebuilding
efforts. The Democrats now have something to work with that they are best at.
They are best at social programs and government accountability. In the
rebuilding of the Gulf Coast, both of those items are top priorities.