2006 Congressional Elections

CNN reports that Bush said "If you listen closely to some of the leaders of the Democratic Party, it sounds like -- it sounds like -- they think the best way to protect the American people is, wait until we're attacked again."

I am not sure if he actually believes that or if this is just campaigning on the part of Republicans everywhere, like Dean Heller. Bush said this while visiting Nevada where Mr. Heller, Nevada’s Secretary of State, is running for Congress.

On November 7th all the House of Representative seats are up for election and 33 of the 100 Senatorial seats are running for election. This is an important mid-term election.

George Bush had been able to hold the country in a tight grip playing on our fears of a repeat of 9/11 and the increase of taxes that the Democrats will surely impose the minute they take power.

This election should bode well for Democrats given the current climate and growing dissatisfaction of the people with the War in Iraq, the Government’s slow response to Hurricane Katrina and other scandals that hit the current administration.

With an administration that shows very little regard for the very people it vows to protect and the economy that despite what the man on the street experiences, the government is smugly satisfied with, we can only hope for the prevailing wind to shift in by this important election year. I do not propose wholesale slaughter at the ballot boxes but I do predict a change in the tide.

Judging by the president’s comment about the Democrats I wonder if he even bothers to think about what his speechwriters put in front of him anymore. We certainly know he doesn’t read the papers. The brilliant work done by his political machine over the last six years seems to be breaking down.

National Security is certainly a major concern and legitimate issue in these elections. But when you make a blanket statement like that how can anyone take you seriously. I can point out that the Democrat’s or Republican’s strategy or plan is inefficient in keeping this country safe or may lead to more attacks but to say that the Democrats as a whole have a wait and see attitude on the terror threat is absurd.

In the same vein, one can say that the Republican’s idea of protecting our country is to take out troops and have them occupied in a war that has nothing to do with this nation’s security and that wastes valuable resources and lives. Their attitude is clearly one that deflects direct criticism rather than face it head on. They did it in the 2004 Presidential Election by throwing almost every accusation back by questioning the asker’s patriotism and or commitment to the American people. Only in this way can a draft dodger look like a war hero while a veteran can be made out to be soft.

If I could be neutral, I’d actually admire the way the Republican Political Machine gobbled up issues and threw them back with barbs attached. They ripped the Democrats to shreds who were unprepared and unwilling to fight back. Let’s hope we’ve come a long way since then and have learned to stand up and fight. And not let the other side define us before we’ve even defined ourselves.

L.S.C.

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