The Huffington Post’s front page this morning couldn’t sum it up better:
The top article from today’s WaPo has a little gentler headline:
Having been a close follower of politics for over 25 years, I keep thinking back to 1995. Bill Clinton was in the White House and Newt Gingrich just orchestrated a massive takeover of Congress for the GOP. I have to give the Republicans credit on that, because they did fight for their campaign promises. They shut the government down to fight. Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and the rest of the Democratic leadership have shown absolutely no spine in fighting this White House, and that is an extreme disappointment.
The news even gets worse. A new NBC poll this morning shows Bush at a 34% approval rating and Congress at 18%, which means Bush’s approval is on the rise while Congress remains stagnant. Bush is holding a press conference at 10am this morning, and you can bet he is going to that podium as one happy camper, and I can’t blame him. The lack of leadership the Democrats have shown has given Bush a boost.
I am also sick of hearing these excuses about how the Democrats don’t have enough of a majority. In 1994 the GOP controlled 230 seats in the House, while the Democrats controlled 204. Today we control 233 seats and the Republicans 202. Now on the Senate side, the Republicans won control of 52 seats in 1994, while the Democrats got control of 51 seats in 2006. So the Republican victory in 1994 was about the same as the Democratic victory in 2006. Why were the Republicans able to do so much more than the Democrats? Because they had spine and was willing to fight. There is no excuse for this cowering by the Democrats.
Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi and Steny Hoyer need to go. They have absolutely no leadership skills. They have betrayed the very people who helped put them into power and if the Democrats ever want to win back the disgruntled voters then they need to step down. I got a great idea for a Reid replacement – Majority Leader Chris Dodd. This is a man who put his convictions and promises ahead of everything else this week. He has shown that he can lead and he would make a great Majority Leader.