Who Lost What?

Ultimately, the real loser in this election was DC politics as usual. That's a bi-partisan issue. Frankly, the Republicans may be better positioned as outsiders for 08, though it remains to be seen if they can recast themsleves as that in only two years. The Democrat Leadership is not new Washington, they are as old as the Hill. And we already know many are just as corrupt.

Meet some new Democrat members of the House:

Harry Mitchell AZ 05 on some issues:

Secure Our Border and Stop Illegal Immigration
Restore Fiscal Responsibility
Create a Stable and Democratic Iraq
Fight Terrorism and Prepare for Disasters
Declare Our Energy Independence
Build Stronger Schools
Honor America's Veterans
Strengthen America's Relationship with Israel

Joe Donnelly Indiana 02

In keeping with my personal faith and family values, I have consistently
opposed abortion and will continue to do so in Congress.

I believe in and support the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution, which guarantees us the right to possess guns.

Brad Ellsworth IN 08

We certainly didn’t start this war with the terrorists, and until it’s won I’m going to support the brave men and women fighting it.  That means weapons, equipment, and support here at home.

When we capture illegals here in Vanderburgh County, my deputies call INS and INS tells them there’s no place to put them.  That’s not right.  It’s also not right when an Indiana employer passes over an American for a job only because an illegal worker is cheaper.  We need to tighten our borders, enforce the laws we have, and punish employers who break them.

Baron Hill IN 09

A family man with deep religious convictions. Baron will bring back the values our government really needs these days. Honesty, Responsibility, and Faith.

Bruce Braley IA 01

Secure Our Borders. Bruce believes that it is high time to secure our international borders—it’s a matter of national security. More needs to be invested in beefing up security along our borders.

Nancy Boyda Kansas 02

For years, illegal immigration has gone virtually unchecked. Congress must take steps to regain control of America's borders.

Prevent Iran from Acquiring Nuclear Arms

Heath Schuler NC 11

A Dem? lol

Bob Casey, pro-life; maybe a Jim Webb, who is more about crushing an enemy when it comes to war - no I'm not blind to the Trojan Horse argument, that some Liberals dressed themselves as moderate or conservative on certain issues to win. But it's what they told the American people that matters in the end.

There is another election in two years and what Americans want and don't want from Government has hardly changed at all. What may be changing is a shortening of our collective patience with not getting it.

What has definitely changed in 4 - 5 years? Through the blogosphere and new media, people have a new, strong and ever-growing tool to start holding politicians and ultimately government to account.

If right-minded people on all sides do that, America has nothing to fear and some amazing things to look forward to in our nation's political discourse.

Comments

[don surber]

What they think does not matter. It is what leadership thinks that matters. Leadership says JUMP they ask "How high?" just to get that corner office, that blond secretary and that latte machine

So Casey is pro-life? So's his old man. These guys are the fig leaves used to cover the second-most liberal leadership in history

The most liberal is in the House

Wake up and smell the horse crap. America, got hosed

[yyy]

Oh brother, so I suppose none of the voters who voted actually had any idea of the position of the person they voted for????

WTF?

America did not get hosed, America may have finally woken up from its long sleep enough to put a stop to the stranglehold the right wing fringe has had on it for the last 15 years.

[John Hinds]

Yeah! Look for a legislative push to reinstate the fairness doctrine, bane to conservative talk radio. And don't think for a minute that they don't likewise have ideas on how to squelch the out of control freedom enjoyed in the blogosphere.

[Shalimar]

"Ultimately, the real loser in this election was DC politics as usual."

Damn, Dan, that's a weird way to spin an election where Democrats didn't lose a single seat in the House or Senate (first time a major party has ever managed that). Only Republican incumbents lost, it was a throw-the-bums-out election only if you think all the bums in DC are Republican (and even I don't think that; you can start with slime like Emmanuel and Hoyer if you want to get rid of worthless Democrats).

[Christopher Fotos]

Bob Casey, pro-life

Other than that he tells us so, I don't know what that's based on.

[rightwingprof]

Brayley and Broyda sound like garden-variety lib Dems, except for immigration. The Hoosiers, I'll grant you, are conservatives -- then, they have to be, or they'll lose their seats. Baron Hill refused to go along with Clinton's gun control initiatives, and Clinton put a lot of pressure on him.

[Greg]

RE: "Frankly, the Republicans may be better positioned as outsiders for 08,..."

You miss the whole point. It's not about posturing, it's about leadership. The Republicans had control for six years and proved to be their own (and the countrys) greatest enemy. They had an opportunity to do revolutionary things like fixing Social Security, restructuring the tax code, developing a national agenda, fixing education, strengthening the family or driving a values and consequences based society. I invite you to take a trip to Beijing to see what an economic miracle China is and what America could be again if we had some leadership and vision.

Instead they missed in Afghanistan, completely missed in Iraq, created situations where graft, corruption and sex scandals abound. If they would have provided leadership first, I'm sure they could have gone about their petty "me first" agendas 2nd and not looked so disastrous. The rest of the world hates us. The Republican politicians proved that they are just politicians. No different than democratic politicians. They provided no leadership, political infighting, graft, corruption, sex scandals and have left a taste in the American publics mouth that will not be easily rinsed out.

So we have the political equivalent of 1976. We'll get to hear the Democrats say "Bad America", "Be ashamed to be an American", "Raise your taxes, lower your pride, do what we say because we know better than you." We'll get 4-10 years of disastrous posturing and pork glommed onto an economy that is struggling to pay for the old and rich who have no accountability and the politicians who give them everything they want because they vote for them.

Yep, it's exciting to be 22 and have 50+ years of working for the idiots who have completely screwed up our forefather’s great vision.

This is a disaster. And the Republicans got exactly what they deserved. So now I'm supposed to hope that the Democrats can screw things up more than the last bunch of Republicans or Jimmy Carter so that I can get another political change for more self serving politicians?

Focus on some issues and not whiney, he said, she said, dissertations of pontification.

Just as an aside, part of the Republicans problem is they scorned the middle for the fanatic fringe. Throw away the dancing with the religious right. We need to live up to the separation of church and state. It gives us the moral high ground when we discuss Islamic Fascism. It allows us to say that you can't have a religious court system as well as a legal one.

Greg