When 'Conservatives' Turn Liberal

It use to be that Republicans preached "small government." The Democrats were the big spenders. The liberals have always been the Mother Party; we must protect from all the evil out there in the world. Liberals "feel." Then, sometime in the '80s or so, the Republicans became more and more influenced by evangelical types. They started becoming the Daddy Party; you can do this, you can't do that.

Frankly, they became a bit bossy. The country rebelled and elected Bill Clinton. Then, as politicians always seem to do, the Clintonites forgot they were elected not crowned. Within two years, the Republicans were back in power on Capitol Hill. They ruled there until earlier this week, when -- after a couple of years of acting like kings themselves -- they were dumped on their thrones.

Iraq played a role in the Democrats' return from exile. But to here those on the Left talk, this is the only reason. Maybe they are trying to will it into being. But if you talk to the middle-of-the-roaders, the moderates, the independents, they will tell you it was must less about foreign policy than about the climate of corruption, pork and free-spending that was always more associated with the "big goverment" politicians.

Neal Boortz, the libertarian talk show host, sums it up quite nicely.

One thing is certain. The Republicans worked very hard for this defeat. They've earned every lost seat. The Republican majority that was sent packing yesterday bore little resemblance to the Republican majority that rode to power 12 years ago. In 1994 we were promised less government. Over the next 12 years the Republicans more than doubled the size of the government. We were promised control over runaway spending. In the last six years discretionary spending has doubled. We were promised fiscal responsibility. We got a bridge to nowhere in Alaska. We were promised the elimination of the Department of Education. After all, educational achievement had been on a steady decline since education was federalized under this Department. In no time at all the Republicans doubled funding for the Department of Education. In the meanwhile America continues to slip on the international scorecard of educational achievement.

The Republicans, in full control of the government, couldn't even manage to stop the Mexican invasion. How many Hispanics invaded our country across the Mexican / American border in the last 12 years? Twelve million? Twenty? Funny, but I don't remember pressing 1 for English in 1994. ...

Amid the ruins of the carnage from last night's election results, an interesting statistic stands out. According to exit polls, what was the most important issue in the election? Iraq, right? Nope...42% of voters said corruption was number one. Islamic terrorism came in at 40%...then the war in Iraq at 37%. In other words, last night's vote wasn't just an overwhelming rebuke of President Bush and the Republican Party based on Iraq. There were other issues at play.

Take corruption. There were plenty of reasons for voters to grow tired of the GOP. Sure, some of the so-called scandals over the past few years were really played up by the media, but after a while the stench grew to the point that voters could no longer ignore it. The Foley case was most likely the last straw. Voters instinctively knew that the Republican leadership knew all about Mark Foley and his stalking of pages, but did nothing. But it's very interesting that terrorism comes in second at 40%. Because Democrats are the least-equipped party to ever deal with the issue of Islamic terrorism. That just shows you how far the Republicans have fallen, that they lost their on their signature issue. Also not mentioned in the reporting on the exit polling was illegal immigration. If there is any one single issue that has the Republican base fed up with the president and his party, this is it. Now that Speaker Pelosi, and new committee chairmen Alcee Hastings and John Conyers will be taking over in January, perhaps Republicans will get the message --- but not before we get amnesty for the illegals already here.

More on Alcee Hastings later ...