A Little more on the Election

Now that a bit of time has passed and we are beginning to digest the full effects of Tuesday's historic election, there are some things which come to mind which may have been lost in the initial glow of the massive GOP victory.

Some political wags bemoan the idea that many good politicians with much political experience have fallen by the wayside. This ignores two things: one, that their experience doesn't matter if they aren't doing what the people in their districts want, and two, putting political capital ahead of good government policy is a dangerous idea.

So what if John Spratt of the House Budget Committee was shown the door? If the people of his district want Republicans in charge of the government, then his experience doesn't mean a thing. When you toss in the possible benefits of a long term legislator more effectively getting pork for his district, then what you have is no longer a government of the people but a government of the special interest. That isn't good government. It's only a recipe for selfishness.

The possibility of stalemate surely hangs in the air for the next Congress as well. So be it, should that actually happen. But the best guess is that we will see several games of chicken as budgets and laws are made as each side will attempt to paint the other into a corner heading into 2012. At some point decisions will be made and folks will be called cowards or courageous for their acts, or lack thereof.

In the end, if the GOP doesn't stand its ground, they likely will face a kick to the head themselves. The real trick for them is not to be bullied by all those who want compromise. Throw it back at the Democrats: make them compromise with you. With the right amount of backbone, the GOP will be the majority party for years to come. But if they let Obama run the show anyway, their victory will, in the end, be hollow.