Election week is here and if my news sources this
morning are correct, we are about to throw a bunch of Democrats out of office.
Practically every story I have read has used words like “historic” and “landslide”
to describe what is about to befall the party of government in these midterms.
Now that we are within 24 hours of the big vote the crazies have come out. Over
the weekend, desperate Dems dragged out their heavy artillery, lobbing racial
bombs throughout the fruited plain. In fliers distributed throughout
predominantly black neighborhoods, voters were warned that a vote for a Republican
would mean that land would be donated to the KKK! Charlie Rangel, the esteemed
Congressman from Harlem proclaimed that some Republicans don’t know that
slavery isn’t legal anymore. Mary Landrieu, a Democrat who has managed to be
elected twice in Louisiana, suddenly has discovered that her state is full of a
bunch of racist, sexist slobs…now that she has fallen behind in the polls.
But the best 11th hour haymaker thrown by a
desperate Democrat has to go to retiring Iowa Senator Tom Harkin, who warned
voters not to be taken in by Republican Joni Ernst just because she was “pretty”
and “seems so nice.” I eagerly await a press release from the National
Organization of Woman slamming the Senator for his demeaning, sexist, misogynistic
comments.
I will vote tomorrow but will not make the same
mistake I made last time. A year ago, I wrote a blog post entitled, “Voting NO”
about my failed attempt to pull the lever for anyone. That decision was met
with a chorus of condemnation. Let’s just say that this year, I will keep my
voting behavior to myself.
That’s not to say that I don’t have an opinion on the
proceedings. When almost every poll suggests a nationwide trend away from one
party like this year, it’s always kind of a big deal. I have a theory about politics
in America. Demographics are destiny. Generally speaking, I believe that a
majority of people want the policies of
the Democrats, ie…most people want their Social Security; most people want the
government to be there when they lose their job, or become disabled and yes, I
do believe that most people would prefer that the government provide them with health
insurance. So, how to explain a national repudiation of the Democratic Party in
an election? Competence.
The only time the Democrats get beat in an election is
when the majority of voters are convinced that they don’t know what the hell
they are doing. Regardless of your politics, it’s hard to make the case for
competence with the current administration and the likes of Harry Reid. So,
according to my theory, the Republicans are about to get their shot at running
both houses of Congress. Good luck to them.
But they will be on a
short leash. The American people will only reward them in the next election if
they keep the entitlements flowing. They start fooling around with
means-testing Social Security, or eliminating infinite unemployment benefits,
or even scrapping the 20,000 page tax code, well they will be tossed to the curb
before you can say “national debt.”
