Miscellaneous Thoughts on the Election

I’m glad the Republicans lost, although I generally agree with their policy positions. They grew fat, corrupt, and lazy during their 12 years of holding the Congressional majority. Holding power became the end, not the means to the ends of upholding the rule of law, limiting the domestic role of government, and protecting the nation. Politics is the art of compromise, so politicians always disappoint their followers when they split the policy baby, but that was not the problem that I had with them. It was their failing of character that was more disturbing.

If we believe in competition in the economic sector as a disciplinary tool, why shouldn’t it work in politics? Being out of power should make the Republicans stronger if they hone their message and try to field better candidates. [11/11/06 afterthought: of course, the Republican seats that changed hands were by definition in more competitive districts. It's the safe seats---on both sides---that are more likely to be held by the lazy and corrupt.]

Another economic analogy: the ownership society. It’s been demonstrated empirically that a society that promotes the ownership of property is better at creating and preserving wealth. Now that the Democrats “own” part of the government, one hopes that they’ll be more interested in working toward solutions to the problems in the Middle East, health care, illegal immigration, and fiscal policy. If, instead, they persist in lobbing stink bombs at the Administration in the pursuit of more raw power, they’ll deservedly be relegated back to their minority status in 2008.

My life will be more pleasant during the next two years. The angry ranting, both at work and home, should subside.

Before this week’s election, the media were saturated with reports of the unreliability of electronic voting systems and their susceptibility to fraud and manipulation. Now that the results are in, there has been nary a peep about the subject. Miraculously, the problems that were insoluble for six years have been fixed overnight. [Update 11/11/06: Steven den Beste has related comments.]

Despite the war, I felt that things were actually going pretty well with the strong economy and the absence of terrorism on U.S. soil since 2001. The Republicans’ message of “I’m bad, but the other guy’s worse” didn’t cut it in 2006. But if a cataclysmic event should occur during the next two years, the public, justifiably or not, may conclude that Republican rule wasn’t so bad after all. Appreciation is often granted in retrospect. © 2006 Stephen Yuen