United Liberty

Instead of looking at this week’s election results, I’d like to take a quick look back at the election of Barack Obama one year ago.

I believe that many Americans felt that Barack Obama would be the Great Transcender. Obama ran a brilliant campaign on a message of hope and change. He sent a message that he would transcend politics as usual and change the way Washington works. While I didn’t buy this completely, it was the sliver of hope in this message that led me to support Obama over McCain. (I voted for Barr.)

Instead, I think Obama has exemplified politics as usual. In fact, I’d say he is an amazing politician. His oratory, his rhetoric, his team, his demeanor… he’s good. But, he transcends nothing. He has embraced Wall Street and the coporatists. He has indulged his base while simultaneously disappointing them. He has made both real and token gestures to the GOP while engaging in classic partisan attacks. He has reneged on his promise to bring transparency to legislation. He stands ready to deploy our military as the world’s police. Shall I go on?

He is the Great Pretender.

The election was over three weeks ago, and most of our focus was on Barack Obama and John McCain. But, I thought it would be good to take a look at the results for the House of Representatives. It was widely publicized that Congress had very low approval ratings coming into the election. According to these polls, it has been hovering between 15% and 20%.

The other night I was perusing the national exit poll results. One statistic scared me more than anything. 51% of voters participating in the exit poll answered that the government “should do more” than it is doing today. Wow.

The current Grand Old Party is in despair and acknowledging some need for change. Since the end of the Reagan Administration it has slowly become the “Grumpy Old-White-Man’s Party” with little appeal to individuals outside of its traditional coalition, and even within that coalition there is little enthusiasm. So, most acknowledge there are problems; But what are they? How can they be fixed? These are the questions party insiders and loyalists are already attempting to answer.

What are the Problems?

While the mistakes made by George Bush’s Republican Party are so numerous one could probably never compile a completely conclusive book on the matter, most can be traced to fundamental root causes that desperately need to be identified and purged- below are a few of the broad policy mistakes committed by the Party.

Politico is reporting that the third ranking Republican in the House of Representatives, Adam Putman, has decided to resign his position. Putnam, 34, elected in 2000, has been viewed as a rising party star able to provide a young fresh face to party leadership. His most recent national point of importance occurred when he stood aside Bush surrogates and other Republican Party leaders attempting to sell the $850 billion TARP Bailout package to skeptical House Republicans.

So wondering how does this effect things? Won’t this neocon just be replaced by yet another neoconservative with little to no true conservative principles? Well the following is an interesting development-

Former Congressman CA-11 Pete McCloskey, who switched his party affiliation from (R) to (D) last year after becoming disillusioned with the “new brand of Republicanism” (aka Neoconservatism) has decided to not only endorse Debbie Cook, the Democratic candidate in CA’s 46th District, but also write to 46th District Republicans explaining his rationale.

“Dear Republican,” the letter begins. “Like you, I was proud to be a Republican until the advent of Bush and the Neocons. My family have been active California Republicans since l859, the year before Lincoln was elected.” - Politicker.com

In complying with recent state legislation that requires election officials to move their votings systems back towards paper ballots, Tuesday’s election will be the last federal election with a signficant usage of electronic touchscreens.

Goodbye, electronic voting. Farewell, fancy touch screen. Maryland and Virginia are going old school after Tuesday’s election.

Last week we published an article “Bush Agrees to Timetable” that gave a 100 mile flyover of the “sticky situation” the Bush Administration is in with regards to its Iraq policy. Over the weekend public reporting of the issue has matured and it seems that the security agreement being pushed by the U.S. is not only in a fragile state, but also unlikely to pass in its current form.

With only one month until the election and an Obama win looking more solid with every passing day, it is hopefully becoming clear to Republicans that their future success does not lie on the road they are currently taking. The road of big government “conservatism” has worn thin and Americans have had enough.

In Tuesday’s debate John McCain proposed a plan to spend $300 billion buying home mortgages of homes that have lost value. No commentary or response needed other than title and the comment of “WOW”.