1994 Part 2

The 2004 election is now in the bag, and the results are striking. Obviously the most publicized result will be Bush's re-election, becoming the first candidate to win a majority of the popular vote since George H.W. Bush in 1988. But the results in Congress are just as important. The Republicans picked up seats in both houses. They also picked up a governor's mansion. The election is a stinging rejection of the Democratic party, comparable to the 1994 Republican Revolution. It took three election cycles for the Democrats to erase the majority in the Senate the Republicans gained in 1994. With this election, the Republicans have built that majority back to where it was, erasing the gains of those three elections.

It is interesting, regarding the Senate, that no one seemed to comment on the fact that, in choosing John Edwards to run for VP, the Democrats were giving up a Senate seat. Edwards' term ended this year and so was up for re-election, which he presumably would have won. Instead, Republican Richard Burr will replace Edwards.

The Democratic party needs to wake up. The leadership of the party since Clinton left the White House has been terrible. The party's weakness in not standing up to Bush during his first term is a principal cause of Kerry's defeat. By ceding ground to the Republicans on key issues, by meekly caving in rather than holding ground, the public came to trust them more than the Democrats. The result of such "leadership"? Tom DeLay's threat that, "with a bigger majority, we can do even more exciting things." This election should be a wake-up call to the Democratic party. Get new leadership and a little backbone!