Elections Blog

The Wall Street Journal has gathered a collection of quotes that appeared in articles for their publication by the recently deceased Milton Freidman.  I highly recommend you read them all.  One in particular struck me, though, as being appropriate for conservativism right now, considering how free-spending the recently deposed Republican Congress was:
…[D]eficits are bad–but not [...]

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What’s the way forward for Republicans who want to stay true to their principles and win back the vital center? AJ has a big piece on the state of conservatism and its future here…much of it I agree with (lower taxes, resoluteness on the War on Terror, no litmus tests), and some of it I [...]

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Trent Lott won by a single vote over Lamar Alexander:
After an intense evening in which both men lobbied colleagues during floor votes, the Republican caucus elected Lott, a one-time whip and majority leader, by secret ballot. Lott will be the GOP’s second-in- command to Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, who was elected unanimously to be the [...]

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To counter the pessimism of my previous post, I present you with this lengthy defense of the ‘consensus’ solutions being leaked from the Iraq Study Group and speculated upon by Gregory Djerejian of the Belgravia Dispatch.  If one were a cynic (who, me?), one might call the following a bit utopian:
With the nomination of Robert Gates [...]

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One of the more laughable post-election assertions by either side came from our good buddy Kos:
Lieberman has been neutered. If he leaves the caucus for short-term gain, he loses all leverage and power and harms his long-term interests. Yet he doesn’t stay in the caucus as a Democrat, but as an independent. And in that [...]

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A charitable interpretation of the reaction to the Mel Martinez ascension of the RNC throne would be one of wonder: what, exactly, is going on here?  A less charitable reaction would be that it is a disastrous pick.  The Blogometer has the scoop (hint: when Markos is enthusiastic about your pick (though, as usual, for all the [...]

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…Mel Martinez?
Ahem…
Well…
The early reaction is none-too-good…sigh…this seems like another blunder to me at first glance…

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The answer: very little.
More than any congressional elections in history, last week’s turned on a single burning national issue. Control of Congress has changed because of deep discontent about Iraq. But Congress can, realistically, have little control over what we make of the mess we have made.
Democrats could have demanded the departure of Donald Rumsfeld, [...]

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I think it was…if Bush had pressured Rumsfeld to resign prior to the midterms, by a couple of weeks, at least, it would have given the Republicans a good talking point to take into the midters, one that showed a belated willingness to listen to critics and make a change.  Another who thinks the timing [...]

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…marred only by the appearance of MoDo (transcript here).  Said MoDo:

MR. RUSSERT: Maureen Dowd, here’s the cover of Newsweek magazine. “Father Knows Best.” With Bush 41, Bush 43, and it’s subtitled “With Congress Lost, Iraq in Chaos, Bush Calls In His Dad’s Team. Can James, James Baker and Company Save the Son’s Presidency?” Very similar [...]

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Some very interesting results from a post-election poll by Newsweek:
Just about everyone believes the Republicans lost the 2006 midterms more than the Democrats won it. Presented with a list of factors that may have contributed to the Democrats’ success, 85 percent of Americans said the “major reason” was disapproval of the administration’s handling of [...]

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Yet another voice adds itself to the chorus of those who do not see a defeat for conservatism in Tuesday’s results, that of Charles Krauthammer:
… [T]he great Democratic wave of 2006 is nothing remotely like the great structural change some are trumpeting. It was an event-driven election that produced the shift of power one would [...]

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Rick Moran says Tuesday wasn’t a good night for all moderates and centrists; those with an (R) next to their names got killed.  And that’s bad news for all Republicans, he convincingly argues:
It’s official. The Republican party is now as ideologically monochromatic as a political party can get. With the defeat of a dozen northeastern and [...]

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As we look back on Tuesday, we also look forward, and I think my post-election commentary has made it clear that I believe our principles are sound, but our fealty to them, and our execution, leave much to be desired.  Dick Armey has some solid advice:
Moving forward, my advice to Republicans is simple: Don’t go [...]

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George Will joins me in believing that Tuesday’s election was a victory for centrist Democrats over the Nutroots® fringe:
Free markets, including political markets, equilibrate, producing supplies to meet demands. The Democratic Party, a slow learner but educable, has dropped the subject of gun control and welcomed candidates opposed to parts or even all of the abortion [...]

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…and the Republicans lose the Senate:
A Democratic takeover of the Senate is appearing likely after an ongoing canvass of votes in Virginia produced no significant changes in the outcome of the hard-fought race led by Democratic challenger Jim Webb, sources told CNN Wednesday.
Wednesday night, with Webb leading Republican Sen. George Allen by about 7,200 votes [...]

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First Rumsfeld, now Hastert.  Will Boehner be next?
If the Republicans had been this decisive on October 1, we would probably still hold Congress.  Nevertheless, better late than never…

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UPDATE 11:59 a.m.: I usually put my updates at the bottom of posts, but this is a big one. Events have overtaken the content of what follows, as Donald Rumsfeld has resigned. I don’t know the details yet, but it’s a welcome move, and my only regret is that he didn’t do it before the [...]

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They’re off to a promising start, at least, though one suspects the good vibes won’t last:
Nothing we could possibly write would survive beyond the now-planned doubleheader of Pelosi (noon) and Bush (1 pm ET) press conferences.
Tomorrow, the two are expected to have lunch together (perhaps with others) at Casa Blanca. When the President learns [...]

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At the moment, according to the RealClearPolitics scorecards, the Senate will be either 50-50, or 51-49 Dems, with the latter the more likely outcome.  Montana and Virginia have not been officially called.  In the House, the Dems are up 27, with 13 races still undecided.
There will be thousands, literally, of post-mortems today, and we’ll no [...]

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