It's the Message of America
By Howard Kaloogian
Once upon a time, the Republican Party had an electoral lock on the
White House while the Democrats held the title deed to Congress.
However, nationwide the '90s seem to have defied historical trends.
The traditional "sixth-year" itch that has the party in control of the
White House losing seats did occur - at the end of the second year.
Since Clinton-Gore took office in 1992, Republicans have gained 52 seats
in the House and 12 in the Senate, 14 governorships and 12 state
legislative chambers. At the same time, 378 elected Democrats publicly
switched to the Republican side of the aisle.
The way any candidate judges their election is to ask if they would
trade places with their opponent. Let's review the facts: Republicans
are in the majority in the U.S. Senate; Republicans are in the majority
in the U.S. House of Representatives; Republicans have 31 governors; and
nationwide - for the first time this century - there are more Republican
state legislators than Democrat. Who would trade places with the
Democrat minority?
California Republicans would. Here the Democrats have taken control of
everything. But the voters did not reject the conservative message - the
Republicans never offered the conservative message. For that matter,
there was no message at all.
My friend Dan Lungren was against crime, but surprise, so was Gray Davis.
Beyond that there was no vision or appeal. Davis, buoyed by tens of
millions of dollars in support from organized labor and trial lawyers,
told the voters what they wanted to hear, not what he is actually going
to do.
When Republicans stay on message, they win, because Americans respond to
the message of hope and prosperity. Republicans have to build their case
for freedom: Less taxes, better schools, stronger families and smaller,
more responsive government. These are the values Americans cherish and
vote for.
This year in California, however, there were over a million less votes
than four years ago. The top of the ticket never conveyed the
conservative vision voters seek, while Democrats fashioned their
commercials to sound Republican. In a post-election commentary in the
Los Angeles Times, political analyst Dan Schnur explained it best: "The
next governor of California, Gray Davis, is a Democrat who talks like a
Republican. And that provides the surest proof yet that the conservative
revolution that began with Ronald Reagan is a bit closer to successful
completion."
Elsewhere in the country, successful candidates of all parties were
sounding conservative themes. The governor-elect of Minnesota,
professional wrestler Jesse "The Body" Ventura of the Reform Party,
campaigned on a message that would have played here: Return the state's
surplus to the working people who earned it rather than spend it on pay
raises for bureaucrats.
This election was not about rejecting the conservative philosophy nor
about a liberal resurgence wrapped up in a "new-Democrat" banner. The
American experience is at the root of the conservative message: Freedom
is valued, hard work should be rewarded, and the future can be better
for our children. The electoral lesson of the 90s is that whoever best
provides that vision will win, regardless of what party label is
attached.
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