The Republican Revolution is officially OVER.

When Ronald Reagan ushered the Dixiecrats into the Republican party and made deals with the Pope about women's rights across the globe, the Republican party changed drastically. I remember watching my mother's reaction to all of this; she was a very moderate Republican (though I don't think she was officially registered with the party). She was horrified. She and my father had been crazy for Goldwater and IKE. She voted for Reagan the first time, but was appalled at what he was doing to the Republican party. I'll never forget her reaction to the Republican convention ('94?). She said, "It looks like a Baptist church!" Separation of church and state was very important to my mother. She was a very well educated and strong woman. She died in the summer of 2000, in Oregon.

We all note that the election of 1994 swept in many Republican members of Congress who mentioned "family values," which was actually a code word meant to pander to certain flavors of Christians--Christians who felt victimized, who felt the world was out to get them. And the Republican party did that to people who were decent and kind, but who were afraid and had what I hesitantly call a victim mentality. I hesitate to say so because the expression has been misused and abused in politics, but in this case it was true. Never before in my lifetime had I seen so calculated an attempt to divide Americans. It was the weirdest thing. When I was growing up, Republicans and Democrats had their differences, but these were limited to what happened at the voting booth, and they had spirited conversations at parties and around campfires, but they did not malign each other. Politics and religion were considered impolite conversation among strangers; this was acceptable among friends--but come to think of it, I never heard anyone arguing about religion. (My mother wasn't fond of the Pope, but she certainly didn't argue with her Catholic friends about it.)

Patrick Buchanan now calls himself an old conservative, a paleoconservative, but he was part of that "religious right" movement: Has anyone forgotten his rallying cry about the "culture war"? He was as much a part of the whole charade as anyone, and the radio personalities and pundits who regard Ronald Reagan and Pat Buchanan as "old conservatives" aren't fooling anyone but themselves. There is a local radio personality where I live--and I haven't lived here long, so he's new to me--who insists that the Republican party should go back to the values of "Goldwater and Reagan." From what little I've read recently, Goldwater was appalled at what Reagan did. I can't imagine putting the two in any kind of similar category.

At around the same time of the "Republican Revolution" (which wasn't Republican at all at the time), the MEDIA started dividing people--Rush Limbaugh being the most notorious example. Scaring people and stirring them up made a lot of money for a guy from Cape Girardeau. It didn't matter that he wasn't educated and that he misinformed his audience. They listened; they quaked; they got angry. And that was addictive. Rush Limbaugh fed their provincial mentality. He provided evidence of almost all the evil in the world--he convinced them that what they already suspected was true: the us versus them theory; that is, just as the victims had suspected, there was an opposing force, an enemy, an opposing tribe, just waiting to gain power: the LIBERAL (or LIBRUL, as he pronounced it).

I was an independent voter, with the exception of the time I registered Republican in order to vote for Dole rather than Bush I in a primary.

Yet as time went on, people like me were labeled LIBRUL because we believed in the separation of church and state. So much of it came down to that. Where were independent moderates to go, after this weird "Republican Revolution"? Where, indeed, were even moderate, registered Republicans to go? My friend and mentor, a nationally recognized poet, grew up in an active old Republican family--again, one that valued the separation between church and state. It took her a little while to go from independent to Dem status. We recently celebrated her sixtieth birthday. She voted a straight Dem ticket when we voted early this election.

The "Republican Revolution" had repercussions not only for the Republican party. Only a fool would think that the electorate could remain static after such a shift. Did Newt Gingrich, Ronald Reagan, or Rush Limbaugh think that such a displacement would not shift allegiances in the rest of the voting population? Could they have been this short-sighted?

There is no doubt that the Democratic party had to adjust to the realignment. Some in the party, who had enjoyed power before the recent populist movement within, weren't very happy. But most--from what I've seen--have weathered the shift very well, and more importantly, they've realized how dangerous and disastrous the "Republican Revolution" has been. They've been practical and strong.

This is the point at which ideology meets pragmatism and where pragmatism really counts, because pragmatism forces us to re-evaluate what our ideology really is. When your country has invaded and occupied another country which was of no real threat (again, against the old conservative thought, to say the least); and when the government is huge; and when the deficit is the largest it has ever been; and when the middle class is clawing to remain viable--then it is no wonder that the majority of us voted the way we did, enabled, finally, by a party that gave money to the states to use as the states deemed practical.

"Republican Revolution"--damned and dead.

:party:

:kick:
Now, if we can just end that "war on Christmas" crap.
Are you listening Billo?

War on Christmas...:rofl:

and not short enough it was. (paraphrased from Yoda)

:nopity:

At least fewer people died. :shrug:

Are you saying that the Iraq War killed fewer people than Hitler did?

;)

Coming out on DU...

I was referring only to the Republican Congress borne of the 1994 election.

By 1998, the Repugs in Congress had lost their '94 vision and zeal, and had begun instead to act like the entrenched and corrupt politicos they claimed to have replaced. It only took about four years for the Contract with America to be tacitly declared null and void. No one noticed much because the Clinton scandals and impeachment had become so tres ala mode. But they sure noticed this November. Heh heh.

BTW, I think there's a lesson we can use here. If we take our eye of the ball by indulging too much in Bushco payback, then implementation of the positive progressive agenda will suffer. We've got a chance to further the nation's best interests, and not just our own. "Too much" is a matter of opinion, naturally, but we can use the stupid Repug obsession with Clinton as a good example of where that benchmark lies. Otherwise 2008 could bring some unpleasant news from the moderates who voted Dem this time thinking we'd set aside the political bullshit and get some good things done.

Meanwhile, Rumsfailed has been kicked to the curb, Bolton's turn is coming, and there will be no more Bush Supreme Court nominees except those we approve. Life ain't so bad. Not so bad at all. :-)

Peace.

It is the same as always with different wallpaper; get real.

:smoke:

Doubtful.

Lesseee how long it takes to stop the evil vermin, they could launch a nuclear war tomorrow,
given their track record of expensive bungling, it well might be expected.

Lemme know when the prison populations are less than china.

Lemme know when the womens equality is better than canada.

Lemme know when the global warming per capita is par with china.

Lemme know when dark and light skinned people have equal rights in america.

Lemme know when women and men have equal rights in america.

Lemme know when we're not stealing someone else's civil liberty to fatly drive big cars.

They're defeated soundly, you say? Whell what gives?

because democrats are elected?

I doubt they will change before i die.

The nationalism and media brainwashing of the corporate media has so distorted
the electorate's priorities and informed nature, the rot is deeply taken,
can it be reversed?

I'm really glad the democrats, "we" won this one. really.

What i wouldn't pay for some real change.

I don't trust this election momentum to continue for our side. I don't trust the 2008 presidential election. Too many questions from previous elections have left me bothered. We had problems here in Denver for THIS election, I can't imagine what kind of contrived problems will be revealed in 08.

Frankly, I don't think the Democrats can hold onto power for long. There's just a feeling I get that this is a short-lived reprieve from the tyranny of the religious right. I'm sorry to bring such negativity to everyone's victory parade, and I am happy about the result of the elections, but I just don't think it will last beyond 08. The Republicans are going to be back in force, dirtier than ever for that one and we poor liberals just can't match the dirty tricks. Not that I want to, but sad to say, that's how elections are won.

opposition wins.

Eeyore doesn't cut it.

The American people just won a mid-term election in a landslide, and you still feel this way?

How does being pessimistic and wary provide the impetus for opposition wins. I don't fucking vote for them, and I'm not gonna let them win. No way. On the contrary, I think being pessimistic about the recent events provides the impetus for wins for our side. I'm not gonna relax after this win like so many of us will I'm sure. I'm not content with this.

Frankly, I feel this way because it is nowhere near enough.

That will keep everyone else from getting too lazy, or compromising too much, or trusting too much. There is still a fight going on, dammit.

are creeping into the scene now, we have to stay focused and we now have 2008 to think about. Rove, Cheney, and Bush are still there, be happy but be cautious.

it's the perennial theme--bail GW out.

I agree about the rest.

for that. I didn't like George H.W. Bush worth a damn; but I will gladly take his intervention and his people in the short term to save the United States of America and perhaps the rest of the world from his idiot thug do-nothing son!

It might come back, but at least for now, we're not as easily divided from our neighbors.

We have a lot of work to do in terms of finally implementing a truly progressive agenda in this country, but we have taken the first major step. The ideology that fueled the Republican revolution is finally and truly dead. That's not to say that Republicans won't be around and a royal pain in the ass for many years to come, but it won't be the same Republican Party that we have known for the past 12 years. They have been exposed for the corrupt frauds that they are, and they will have to adapt to remain viable.

Our work now is in persuading our newly elected leaders as well as the rest of the American public that liberalism is not something to be feared. We are not going to open the doors for terrorists. We are not going to destroy morality.

We are going to see to it that all Americans have affordable health care. We are going to see to it that we have a viable and healthy environment that our grandchildren and theirs can enjoy. We are going to see to it that if you work 40 hours a week, you should be able to support yourself and live a decent lifestyle. We are going to see to it that our schools are the best in the world.

Most Americans are with us on these issues. All we have to do is erase the damage and the propaganda that the Republicans have fed them for so long. But on Tuesday night, we took the first step in that direction. The Republican Revolution? That died in the sands of Iraq. An explosive and violent end to an explosive and violent party.