What's Next for the Democrats? Govern.
By: Mark Poloncarz
Date: November 14, 2006
Last Tuesday was a banner night to be a democrat. Everyone knows the Democratic Party recaptured the House of Representatives by a healthy margin and the Senate by a seat (assuming Joe Lieberman caucuses with the democrats), but on January 1, 2007 there will also be six new democratic governors in states that were held by republicans (New York, Ohio, Massachusetts, Maryland, Arkansas and Colorado). Democrats also picked up many seats in statehouses across the country and now have one party rule in 15 states.
So now that democrats find themself in charge of the Congress the logical question is “what’s next?” The answer depends on how you interpret the results of the election. If you believe that the voters cast a ballot for democrats because of their support for democratic party principles then you are calling for a massive policy overhaul in DC, and possibly the impeachment of the president. However, if you believe that the vote was not for democrat principles but one against the president and the war then a more moderate approach is called for starting January 1.
I, as well as most pundits, think that the latter of the two is the correct interpretation of last week’s vote. Democrats won not because they offered an inspiring alternative to the president’s agenda, but just that they are an alternative to the president. Moderate republicans lost seats not because of their positions or votes, but because they happen to be aligned with the president. If you doubt that go ask Rhode Island Senator Lincoln Chaffee why he lost. It was not because voters disliked him but because he had an (R) next to his name. How else can you explain why a popular senator with a 66% approval rating among the voters who cast a ballot last week lost. As a result, Chaffee now questions whether he will stay a republican, thereby joining other northeast Rockefeller Republicans who now find themselves without a home in their national party.
While moderate republicans are just trying to find themselves, democrats are now presented with an opportunity to lead this nation forward. Voters put their faith in democrats not because of who they are, but who they aren’t. The voters gave democrats a chance to lead to see if they can do a better job then the republicans. In order to deliver on that opportunity democrats must govern.
Now is not the time for payback. Congressional oversight is required, but Speaker-Elect Nancy Pelosi was correct in saying that impeachment of the president is off the table. Getting back at the opposition is not leading, it is squandering an opportunity that we have not had since 1994. Republicans lost because of this president, his War in Iraq, and the arrogance of many in the Republican Party (i.e. Karl Rove) who thought that voters would still vote for them no matter what they did. Democrats cannot be arrogant as we go forward. Power can create arrogance, but it does create opportunity, and it is that opportunity that if taken will lead to even more gains in 2008, including the presidency.
Nancy Pelosi is right, the first 100 hours of a Democratic Congress should be focused on passing legislation that (1) raises the minimum wage, (2) authorizes the government to negotiate lower drug prices with drug companies for Medicare beneficiaries (a no brainer that the administration still vigorously opposes), (3) ferrets out waste and corruption in federal contracts for the war, (4) restores the college tuition tax credit, and (5) ends subsidies to big oil companies that are recording billions of dollars in record profits.
No easy answers exist for the war in Iraq, but if Congress passes the above pieces of legislation it will show that democrats care about the issues that really impact people at home. Leading on those issues will give democrats the credibility they need to address the war and make a rational decision on a secure withdrawal that is acceptable to a majority of Americans.
Getting legislation thorugh that helps the average American will matter more for our country’s future than getting back at the president and the Republican Party. Some people may feel this is the time to get even for the impeachment of Bill Clinton and the last six years of the Bush Administration and its do-nothing Congress. But now is not the time for payback, instead its the time to lead - the time to govern.
If democrats govern voters may actually cast a ballot in 2008 for who they are, not who they aren’t, and that means they may be handed an even bigger reward in 2008 - more gains in Congress and the White House.
Mark Poloncarz, a founding member of the WNY Coalition for Progress, is comptroller of Erie County, New York.
© Mark C. Poloncarz, 2006.
The opinions expressed herein are solely those of the author and do not represent those of the WNY Coalition for Progress.
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