Would you ever think that elections for Congress would ever supercede the elections for the presidency? That seems like such a stupid and simple question that nobody would think about. The presidential election is supposed to be the most important to everyone. Evidently this election is different for some.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/29/us/politics/29immig.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=immigration&st=cse&oref=slogin
According to this article a group of republicans have put their focus on the Congressionals. "We’re going to have an incredibly bad White House, so we’re in for some tough defensive battles," says Roy Beck.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/19/opinion/19fri1.html?scp=6&sq=immigration&st=cse
This particular group of republicans thinks that with either presidential candidate the issue of illegal immigration and amnesty is screwed. This group is looking to have a lot of republicans in both the House and Senate so that they might reject any amensty proposed by Obama or McCain.
This seems so strange and yet it makes so much sense if you are an ultra conservative republican. McCain's views are somewhat moderate and he seems to be leaning more towards amnesty than deportation, and Obama is not even in the picture for these people. So I decided to take a look at what is going on in the Congressional elections and how the Republicans are fairing.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/03/business/03repubs.html?scp=1&sq=congressional%20election%20in%202008&st=cse
It seems that the Republicans in the Senate have a more moderate lean and fall into line with what McCain says. This is most evident in the past month when most Republicans voted for the rescue bill which in its own right was something that Republicans should have rejected based on their values. It is totaly opposite in the House. In the House, the Republican representatives seem the reflect more of the "grass roots" of conservative and almost populist views when it comes to the economy and business. To these Republicans a rescue bill goes against everything they say and believe in.
But the Republican party is at a cross roads during this election. The economic crisis has started to fracture and split those Republicans who are rigidly conservative and those Republicans who are more moderate and liberal. This big division is going to definitely help out Democrats take control of both the Senate and the House. The next congressional election is not until 2012 but it seems that the moderate and liberal views will take over long before the Democrats party will.
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3 comments:
Duckblogger,
First, thanks for the recommendation! As for the importance of Congressional elections to Republicans, since the Democrats will likely gain more Senate seats, the Republicans must do everything they can to prevent the Democrats from taking a sixty seat majority in the Senate. Are the Republicans also focusing on the House of Representatives? Also, will the Republican Party need to evolve to repair the damage on its image inflicted by President Bush? Finally, I do not want to seem partisan, but how long do you think the Democrats will remain dominant in Congress?
Tommy
Duckblogger mania,
It seems evident that the democrats will have a majority in the senate. Is it too late for the Republicans to try to combat this? It also comes to my attention that since the Republicans were split from the more conservative against the more liberal, do they have only themselves to blame? Lastly do you feel that since the Democrats are projected to have a greater presence overall that they will be able to get work done for the people without the continuous bickering in the senate that usually makes bill passing slow?
Duckblogger,
I can definitely see how the house and the senate could be important hard since bills are originated in Congress, not by the president. My question is Who is the majority leader of the House and the Senate now? Is it Democrats or Republicans? If both houses are Democrats then if will be extremely hard to pass any conservative republican views through Congress regardless of whether the Republican party is split or not. If both are Republican then it seems as though there would be a greater chance to pass republican bills if the party can agree on issues. If one house is Republican and the other is Democratic then there will be some issues that may get passed, although not as many as if both houses were republican.
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