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Conservatism wins big on Election Day 2002

By Matt Margolis | November 11, 2002

Where are the likes of Barbra Streisand and Alec Baldwin going to go now? Are they going to follow up on their original promises to leave the country in 2000 if George W. Bush was elected president? Not only is George W. Bush still the Commander-In-Chief, but now his party controls both the House and the Senate after a critical mid-term election. Looks like Barbra’s singing at the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Gala back in September struck the wrong chord with voters. We’re sick of hearing her, and we’re sick of the Democrats and the way they’ve been running things.

Democrats need to understand what Election 2002 says about the direction this country is going. The majority of this country does not want to turn memorial services to political rallies. The majority of this country does not want Saddam Hussein to develop weapons of mass destruction. The majority of this country has moved on from Election 2000 and accepts the fact that George W. Bush is indeed the legitimate president he has always been. But the Democrats are still making excuses for their big losses last Tuesday.

After the election Barbra Streisand said: “It is a sad time. The Democratic Party was not able to articulate a clear message - was not able to convey the very real and very many differences between the two parties.” On the contrary, Barbra, the Democrat’s message was clear - but that’s not what America wanted, nevertheless, she insists that what the Republicans stand for is ” against the interests of most Americans.” Evidently it was in the interests of most Americans to elect Republicans.

Mitt Romney, a Republican, defeated liberal Shannon O’Brien in liberal Massachusetts (that’s Taxachusetts to us insiders). Robert Ehrlich, a Republican, beat Kathleen Kennedy-Townsend for Governor of Maryland, where Democrats outnumber Republicans three to one. ( Please note the Kennedy name.) The Washington Times pointed out that Ehrlich will be “Maryland’s first Republican governor since Spiro T. Agnew took office in 1966.”

Shaheen was defeated by Republican Sununu in New Hampshire for the U.S. Senate. Republican Saxby Chambliss defeated incumbent Democrat Max Cleland in Georgia. Norm Coleman defeated Paul Wellstone’s successor candidate Walter Mondale in Minnesota. Elizabeth Dole was victorious in North Carolina. Across America, the message was clear; conservatism will move this country forward into the 21st century.

Streisand also wrote, “The American people want leaders - they want people who convey a strong message and stand for something.” That’s exactly what happened on Election Day 2002, unfortunately for Barbra, the American people want leaders that stand for different things then the leaders she was singing for back in September.

Terry McAuliffe, Chairman of the Democratic Nation Committee, is equally in denial about the message made by the American people on Election Day. “[T]he Republican advantage was a tactical advantage, not an issue advantage.” What he doesn’t seem to realize is that people did vote on the issues, and that the issues mattered above all in this election. And the issues won the Republican’s control of the Senate, and a stronger majority in the House. The Republicans have a tactical advantage as a result of an advantage on the issues.

McAuliffe, in the aftermath of his party’s huge defeat, still felt he had to point out that his party “scored upsets to elect new Democratic governors in Oklahoma and Dick Cheney’s home state of Wyoming.” But he neglects to note that Republican Lamar Alexander won for U.S. Senate in Tennessee, Al Gore’s home state. Republican M. Michael Rounds won the seat for Governor in current Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle’s (D-SD), home state of South Dakota with 57% over Democrat Jim Abbott’s 42%, a margin of roughly 49,500 votes.

The Democratic “upsets” cited by McAuliffe were by much slimmer margins. Democrat Dave Freudenthal only won the governorship of Wyoming by 2%, less than 4,000 votes. In Oklahoma, both Democrat Brad Henry and Republican Steve Largent each received 43% of the vote, with Henry edging Largent by a mere 6,866 votes. The Independent candidate in that election, Gary Richardson, who is largely conservative, received 14% of the vote. So, 57% of voters of Oklahoma voted for a conservative candidate.

McAuliffe suggests the Republican victory on election was a result of the “money that helped them blur the very real differences between our parties on key issues like prescription drugs and Social Security.” Yet, 21 Republicans managed to win their seats even though they were outspent by their Democrat opponent. The most money spent by a losing candidate was 9.7 million dollars by incumbent Jean Carnahan (D-MO), who lost to James Talent, a Republican who only spent nearly 3.7 million dollars less than Carnahan. Democrat Jeanne Shaheen spent roughly 1.3 million dollars more than John Sununu in New Hampshire, and still lost. In the House, Jim Humphreys, spent about 6 million dollars, and still lost to Republican Shelley Moore Capito, who spent only a third as much on her campaign and won 60% of the vote.

Another important election, the gubernatorial race in Florida, saw incumbent governor Jeb Bush win with 56% of the vote. With Jeb’s solid victory, Democrats in denial over Election 2000 can rest assured that the Florida voters not only reelected President Bush’s brother at the polls this year, but they also legitimized George W. Bush win in their state in 2000, which gave him the electoral votes necessary to defeat Al Gore.

The Democrats lost big time this year. The American people saw two choices, liberalism and conservatism - and conservatism swept the polls on November 7, 2002.

The agenda of the Republicans is clearly the agenda of the American people, and Barbra Streisand has to live with this fact. In her view, it’s an agenda “for the worse.” But it’s what the voters wanted. They wanted change - they wanted George W. Bush’s vision for America to be realized. The people have spoken; they are not falling for the typical liberal diatribe pushed by the Democrats about the Republicans agenda. The people are tired of hearing people like Barbra say that the Republicans are about “Tax cuts for the rich, destruction of the environment, a prescription drug plan that covers only a very small percentage of seniors, an inadequate pension reform bill, an overly aggressive foreign policy.”

No one is falling for it anymore, Barbra� get with the program. Accept the decision made by the American people. The conservative agenda is the one that saw victory on Election Day. There’s much to be done, and it’s time for the Republicans to say “Let’s Roll” and work towards bettering America for everyone.