Posted by
CJ Good on Friday, December 15, 2006 5:00:07 PM
Few people had considered the Senate being up for grabs so soon after this past falls Republican whitewashing from the Democrats. In fact Harry Reid and Schumer were so elated about gaining the majority that they were worse than a High School Boy who just received a note back checked maybe from his crush.
Karen Tumulty has right put that being in the Majority may not be such a good thing and can even be a bad thing.
One has to question the reality of the Senate, one of the most exclusive club in the world. We like to think of majority as a 51-49 majority, however that is not the case in the world of the Senate. Yes, the Democrats will get the chairmanships, but the minority really controls the debate in the Senate. The Republicans really learned this lesson in 1993, as they became more bold, and the electorate saw real leadership from the Republicans as they framed the debate. Yet, the Democrats did not realize the power they had in the Senate until they lost the Presidency. The Bush agenda really needed to fit what the minority was able to swallow.
One of the problems the Democrats will have in controlling the Senate is that they defined how a minority party acts more egregiously than any other minority prior to them. They used the filibuster better than any other minority in history, in fact they exploited the Republican weakness with it. Prior to 2001 the filibuster could only be used to stop legislation and not appointments. Yet, the Republicans did not stop them nor attempt it, in fact the media hounds in the Republican party were quick to support the Democrat efforts so they could get on MSNBC. The other thing the Democrats were successful in doing, and if Harry Reid is smart he would bring back, is to filibuster without filibustering. The worst thing the Republicans did for themselves was to allow Democrats to perform a filibusters without speaking, which led to fewer fillibusters as Senators would grow tired of no action in the Senate minus that of the few who were speaking. The Republicans allowed them to just vote on cloture, without any debate. The Republicans could have forced their hand and not had to debate Nuclear or Constitutional options, but force the dems to stand up for what they believe.
The Democrats now will have that very same issue over the next two years. Harry Reid pushed this all through and now they will have to eat their own poison, and allow the Republicans to control the actions of the Senate. If the Democrats want anything done in the Senate they will need to allow for votes on judges, they will need to support the war and the troops, and they will need to support spending cuts. Failure on Democrats to do this and shut the place down. Make Harry Reid get up and explain why he is failing, and we can talk about why we are winning the debate.
That strategy will also help to win the truly important races in the House, Governorships, and House Legislatures. People want to see leadership, and no matter how bad the leadership is they want something. While I do not agree with alot of Harry Reid's viewpoints, he was masterful in showing leadership, however he can no longer just show it, he has to demonstrate it. That is why the Democrats walked away with everything, the Republicans looked lost, and ridiculous in trying to defend the undefendable. Now the Republicans have the ability to show that the Democrats are not all that they are cracked up to be, because their only backbone is obstruction. I know alot of people were not happy with a Mitch McConnell and Trent Lott leadership, but I like the fact that they know what it means to be in the minority and they know the Senate. My only request, please do not be spineless, if you are 2008 we will be in much worse than what November was.