Posted by
Buster Foghorn on Wednesday, November 08, 2006 8:47:38 PM
During these perilous times it is imperative that with a divided government our elected representatives find a way to govern. And make no mistake; potential peril is all around us. France is burning and the battles are continuing in Iraq and Afghanistan. Further, in the first week of November 2006 news reports announced that six Arab countries, including Algeria, were contemplating going nuclear similar to Iran. Additionally, there is increasing risk of atomic weapons in the hands of terrorists. Moreover, if the Taliban seized control of Afghanistan and extremists eliminated President Musharraf in Pakistan, we would indeed face dangerous times. Other significant issues include: North Korea, Iran, and a range of domestic issues about how to “re-set” the rules for combating radical Islam. One conclusion seems inescapable - the times require a governing coalition.
Can our current political class subordinate past grievances and form a coalition capable of governing effectively? Can the Chief Executive find common purpose with enough members of both parties to form a coalition comparable to the one that President Reagan had with Southern Democrats, known as Yellow Dog Democrats, during the 1980s? Today, as a result of gerrymandered districts Yellow Dog Democrats are virtually eliminated. As a result, since 1992, we have seen a greater polarization between the left and the right. In 1994, however, a group of thirty-three conservative Democrats formed a coalition and became known as Blue Dog Democrats. In this recent election, did the Democratic Party recognize the need to run a new breed of Democrat?
In a number of states the Republican actually faced a difficult challenge getting to the right of the Democratic opponent on the issues. Perhaps these Democrats will emerge as a new breed of Democrat that could be called: Red Dog Democrats. A Red Dog Democrat may be more conservative than his liberal counterpart, more likely to be pro-military, pro-marriage, pro-limits on abortion, and more traditional in his view of the issues.
Thomas Sowell in a provocative piece, New Voter Fraud, is a “Doubting Thomas.” He argues that a number of Democratic candidates who ran as moderates will put extremists in charge, i.e., they will give the left wing of their party carte blanche. Is he correct or are we going to see a new brand of Democrats that assert their political will?
Only time will tell if these newly elected Democrats, who represented themselves as closer to the political center, are really a new breed of Democrat or merely ambitious politicians willing to mislead voters. Hopefully they were not misrepresenting their positions and will help form a coalition to govern. Time will tell, but perilous times require leaders and responsibility requires vision. Will we see it? Stay tuned.