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Jewish World Review August 19, 2005 / 14 Av, 5765 Ohio election may be sign of good things to come for the Dems By Froma Harrop
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
No loss could be sweeter for Democrats than the recent
split-hair defeat of their man in Ohio. The reason for the satisfaction is
that Democrats never even considered the possibility that Paul Hackett might
actually win. But he almost did, and in the state's very Republican 2nd
District, too. Furthermore, the Hackett campaign spent about half as much in
the special election as did the Republican, Jean Schmidt.
More news like this, and Democrats can cut their Prozac dose.
And there is more news like this — for example, that Bush's approval
numbers are hitting bottom and the Republican Congress' are already there.
Hope ascends for Democrats. Could the 2006 congressional
elections produce a repeat of 1994 — this time, in their favor? The 1994
election gave Republicans control of both houses of Congress for the first
time in 40 years. Democrats have plenty of time between now and next year to
mess up, but they have an outside chance of taking back the Senate and even
the House.
If the right Democrat (Hackett is a Marine just back from Iraq)
could perform so well in Ohio's second-most Republican district, imagine the
possibilities in the state's less-Republican districts, 10 of which are now
in GOP hands. Ohio is not just any state, but the predictor of the nation's
mood swings. If Republicans are in trouble there, they're in trouble.
Almost nothing is going well in America right now, according to
the people. On the economy, President Bush's approval rating is at 41
percent, the lowest in the Associated Press-Ipsos poll's history. And this
comes at a time when certain economic indicators are encouraging.
Unemployment, for example, is at a four-year low.
But Americans are not entirely fools. They know this economy is
built on self-indulgence. It's been pumped up by government spending paid
for with public debt — and by consumer spending, also done with borrowed
money. Sooner or later, debts must be paid.
There's no serious energy policy that a) reduces our dependence
on foreign oil and b) addresses the threat of global warming. Gasoline
prices are rising, and will continue to do so as the billions in China and
India trade their bicycles for cars.
Job security, for most, grows bleaker by the year. Those nice
income gains reported by the Feds have gone mainly to high-earning
families — the type that receive bonuses and stock options.
For people lower down the ladder, uncontrolled immigration
continues to depress wages and benefits. Business likes that, and therefore
so does the Bush administration. And foreigners in their own countries are
also eating what was considered the American lunch. Not only manufacturing,
but also accounting, programming and customer-service jobs keep moving
elsewhere.
Nothing has been done about soaring health-care costs or the
rising numbers of uninsured. Finding health insurance at the job gets harder
all the time, and the lucky workers who have it are bearing more of the
costs. The situation is no fun for employers, either, who find themselves at
a competitive disadvantage with rivals in countries with rational
health-care systems.
Then there is the war in Iraq. Approval for Bush's handling of
it is down to 34 percent. Doing it right, apparently, demanded billions more
dollars in spending and thousands more troops than this administration was
willing to invest.
Bah! Governing is a bore. Let's spend another month demonizing
Terri Schiavo's husband. Perhaps the president can explain once again why
U.S. Treasury securities would be rock-safe investments for private Social
Security accounts but are "just IOUs" when they're in the Social Security
Trust Fund. Or he could elaborate on why America's schoolchildren should
study "creationism" alongside evolution.
If Democrats can't bat against this crowd, they don't belong in
the game. All they need is the New Democrat platform, which is fiscally
conservative and respects the values of ordinary Americans. Democrats should
be swinging from the heels.
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© 2005 Creators Syndicate |
Arnold Ahlert | |||||||||||
