Let’s get the obvious out of the way – the American people handed President Bush his ass on a plate by proving they remembered all those botched plans and failed strategies. But Democrats should thank Bush for the Capitol Hill takeover rather than pat themselves on the back. This was what political pundits call a “referendum”on the president; it had nothing to do with Democratic policies. So what do the voters want? One thing’s for certain: They don’t want partisan politics.
The country is still heavily polarized. Democrats were not handed a mandate to rule when they barely squeezed past Republican opponents in the three states that decided the balance of power in the Senate. And the winners in each race – Montana, Missouri and Virginia – ran on relatively conservative stances.
Sen. Joseph Lieberman’s win in Connecticut as an independent (after being shafted in the Democratic primary because of his pro-war stance) proves that Americans are looking for shades of gray instead of the traditional red and blue. Lieberman’s versatility is now an asset as he is courted by Republicans who hope to use him as a beacon of bipartisanship. Meanwhile, he is content to accept his chairmanship of the Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee once Democrats take control in January.
President Bush is running out of time to finish his unfulfilled plans for Congress. Despite his appeals for bipartisanship, the president is already trying to push the last remnants of his conservative agenda before the lame-duck session of Congress adjourns. But controversial goals such as permanently appointing John Bolton as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and legalizing domestic wiretapping by the National Security Agency will probably fail, with Republicans distancing themselves from the White House. It seems like they got the message, too: It’s time for moderation.
That’s probably the reason behind the swift departure of our heinously arrogant Secretary of Defense last week. And even though the news came four years too late, it signaled the end of radical partisan leadership in Washington.
But now that he’s gone, Democrats face an even greater challenge. They must devise a solution to Iraq that cuts through the middle. They must find an answer for the millions of people without health insurance that won’t look like an expansion of welfare. They have to look strong on security abroad, while protecting the economy at home. It’s a huge task that Donald Rumsfeld and Dennis Hastert cut and ran from, but a goal Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats must accomplish to retain Congressional leadership in the future.
Bipartisanship is a word we’ll hear a lot of in the coming years. And that’s a good thing, because the American public asked for it.
