SamSaid!

SQUANDERED

I can clearly recall that heady evening in November 1994 when the Republicand swept the board and gained control of the White House, Senate and House of Representatives for the first time in decades. Mainly, I recall the disbelief on the faces of the shocked Democrats as they watched the results being reported. Now I know how they felt — at least in part. As the old saying goes,”it was a Day at Black Rock” on November 8,2006.

The sweep by the Rs back in 1994 led to very high expectations, especially on court decisions that were negating many “traditional values” for the majority of Americans. The Ds and other Liberals were clevely by-passing the electorate to achieve change (their way) via ideologically sympathetic Judges, and stretching the Constitution to effectuate significant change that could never be attained through the ballot box. To a given degree, the liberal march was stopped or at least slowed dow, and the Supreme Court has been re-staffed to (hopefully) counter the silly rulings of left wing Judges catering to the liberal side. But for sure, the great expectations of 1994 are gone.

So what happened and what can we expect? First of all, Lord Acton was right, “Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely”. Bill Clintom remains the champion when it comes to corruption and disreputable behavior at the highest level, but in the past few years, the R leadership has taken a real beating in the House and Senate, and they paid the price for public disclosure. In the current vernacular, the Rs simpy shot themselves in the foot.

When a major change such as 2006 occurs,there are numerous reasons that contribute to the demise of a political party in the eyes of voters — and no matter what the transgressions might be, the largely hostile press and media effectively exaggerate them by two or three fold. Any game plan for the Rs means learning how to swim upstream.

How do we describe the 1994-2006 period of Republican control of the Federal Government? Failure? Wasted? Under achievement? True, the big margins in the House and Senate were not veto-proof, but the real power base of the Rs was not pushed to the maximum degree. In retrospect, the opportunity was there, the voting strength was there, and the popular issues were there. Yet the opportunity was — my word — squandered. It could be a long time before such an opportunity comes again.

As issues go, the Iraq war stands alone. It occupied center stage, but there were a lot of other matters that seem to get lost in the clutter. Too bad.

FRAUD

The November 2006 elections are now history. The echoes of gleeful chortling still can be heard among the winning Democrats, and the somber Republucans are left to wonder what happened while they lick their wounds. Many of the election issues remain to be confronted by the Ds, while many others just slide off the end of the table where they will rest until 2008 or later. There is one particular issue in this latter category that is a sensitive matter —- at least with me.

In every election that I can recall (and that adds up to a fair number) there has been a hue and cry about election fraud; that is, thousands and thousands of votes cast by people who are not eligible to vote, people who are “dead”, non-citizens, phony IDs, voting more than once, illegal aliens, and the list goes on. All of these practices have been used in the Big City machines of both parties, going back into the 1800s,1900s, and 2000s. The practices may have changed, but not the objective which is to elect the candidate of choice, no matter how it is done.

You would think that election fraud would be a hot issue nowadays in view of the narrow margins in many elections. Every time I vote I wonder if my vote will be cancelled by some non registered derelict, or a phony ID or a vote bought for a six pack and a couple of cigars. Way back, there was a story about a controversial office holder who had openly been labelled a “crook”. In response to that Republican accusation,a Democrat replied, “He may be a crook, but he is our crook”. When it comes to election fraud, perhaps the analogous statement would be “Election fraud isn't all bad as long as our guy wins”.

The tragic thing about election fraud is that most people are not riled up about it and just don't seem to care. But I do. I keep asking, “will my vote really count?” Don't hold your breath waiting for meaningful reform. It is not on Ms Pelosi's long agenda.