Legal Commentary

Tonight's GOP Talking Points

By TChris

1. Tom DeLay on MSNBC peddled fear that Nancy Pelosi will become an unstoppable force of evil in the House.

2. Chris Wallace and Karl Rove agree that Barack Obama didn't run as a liberal and therefore has no mandate to pursue liberal policies. But I'm pretty sure I've heard that Barack Obama is a socialist. Why is Rove assuming that voters didn't prefer socialism to McCainism?

3. Bill Bennett predicts newly emboldened Democrats in the House and Senate will make a mad rush to the left. Since the country has moved from right to centrist-right, he views it as Obama's obligation to govern from a centrist philosophy and to block the wild-eyed liberals.

Bennett's premise is flawed. [more ...]

While a long term political realignment is the likely outcome of the disaster known as the Bush administration, in the short term most voters just want a government that works. Republicans broke the government and voters want it fixed.

Voters want the government to make it safe to drive over bridges. Voters want the government to build infrastructure that maximizes protection against flooding and earthquakes. Voters want the government to assure that financial institutions behave responsibly. They want the government to fix an inequitable health care system.

Voters are tossing Republicans out of office because Republicans don't respond effectively to disasters and frequently cause them. Voters want a government that works for them, not for the wealthy, not for the oil and gas industry. That's Barack Obama's mandate. And that's what a progressive Democratic legislature can help him deliver.

Full post as published by TalkLeft on November 04, 2008 (boomark / email).