The GOP took it on the chin this past Tuesday. John McCain and his collection of small ideas were soundly beaten by Barack Obama. Though it wasn't an historic rout, Barack Obama's victory showed Democrats can win in places like Florida and North Carolina. Obama's message that he will bring change won over independents and carried him to victory. Undoubtedly, the steady demeanor Obama demonstrated in the last weeks of the campaign made voters comfortable with him. And after the incurious Bush, voters apparently were impressed by Obama's intellectual heft. Obama had the right message combined with rare political skill. Yet, he still might have failed to win, if the GOP hadn't done such a poor job of governing during the Bush years that it had thoroughly discredited itself. The voters delivered a stinging rebuke to the Republican Party this past Tuesday, a fate the GOP richly deserved.
If anything, the voters were too kind to the Vietnam war hero, John McCain. Despite being the nominee of a party with a tarnished reputation, McCain still garnered 46% of the popular vote. Though well-liked and known to have something of an independent streak, McCain couldn't overcome the toxic political environment that led to gains in both chambers of Congress for the Democrats. During the last few years, Americans have grown disgusted with the Republican Party for a myriad of reasons. Though the financial crisis put the final nail in McCain's coffin, he probably would have lost anyway. When there are polls showing at least 80% of Americans dissatisfied with the direction the country is headed, the incumbent party is poised to take a licking.
The recent election was fascinating for its many twists and turns. Yet, the general tenor of the election didn't waver that much. The Republicans were the underdog from the beginning, given the embarrassingly low approval ratings of the current President. Yet, voters gave McCain a chance because he did have that maverick reputation, even if he hadn't shown much proclivity of being a maverick during Bush's second term. McCain also ironically fell victim to a more stable Iraq. Because Iraq faded as a campaign issue(and was replaced by worries about the economy), McCain's support for the Iraq surge largely became irrelevant. In truth, McCain's position on Iraq never made sense. He asserted that forces in Iraq could not be withdrawn until victory was achieved. Yet, he never quite could articulate what victory meant nor did he give an estimate how long it would take to achieve victory. McCain's insistence of victory in Iraq, far from ensuring victory, was nothing more than a silly open-ended commitment to an occupation that has long ceased to have the support of Americans. McCain's hawkish position on Iraq contrasted with the desire of Americans to withdraw troops from Iraq sooner rather than late. It also didn't deviate one whit from Bush's policy. Is it any wonder Americans concluded McCain wasn't offering change?
The Republicans had during the Bush years pushed and enacted a series of tax cuts. Supposedly, the lowering of taxes would lead to a robust economy. Yet, the performance of the economy during Bush's reign has been tepid at best. While Conservatives continued to advocate deregulation and trickle-down economics, there was growing evidence the Bush tax cuts weren't spurring widespread economic gains. Despite the evidence, Conservatives stuck with their rigid ideology. The recent turmoil in the financial sector of the economy reveals the peril of too much deregulation. Throughout the economy, companies are reducing headcount as the economic woes intensify. With the spreading economic woes spurring fear, Americans concluded they'd be crazy to elect McCain and get more of the same.
The GOP richly deserved to lose this Presidential election. The party did not adapt to the changing economic conditions and was unable to make a persuasive case why voters should entrust the GOP with the Presidency. Through much of the campaign, McCain seemingly avoided talking about the issues. Though the Palin VP pick did give McCain's campaign a temporary lift, the pick probably ended up hurting McCain's chances more than it helped. Though Palin injected some life into a seemingly moribund GOP, the pick of the very Conservative Alaskan Governor for Vice President hurt McCain's standing with independents(and open-minded Democrats). Moreover, Palin demonstrated during the campaign she isn't ready to be a heartbeat away from the highest office in the land. The nation clearly wanted the next President to implement change, yet the GOP stubbornly clung to an agenda that offered little change.
There is one last point I'd like to make. The voters threw the Republicans out of the White House first and foremost because of the sudden implosion in the financial industry. But an even more persuasive case for jettisoning the Republicans has been the GOP's seeming disinterest in the messy job of governing while Bush has been President. With Bush at the helm, the ranks of the poor have swelled and the middle class has been squeezed. As Bush leaves office, the number of Americans without health insurance is in the neighborhood of 47 million. Oh, and who can forget the Katrina debacle. As Bush leaves the scene, he has left quite a mess for Obama to deal with.
From cultivating a culture of corruption to initiating an unnecessary and unwise war, the GOP has run its image into the ground. At one time, the Republican Party had a reputation for competence. In eight years(and especially the last four), Bush has shattered that image. Republicans used to be the party of fiscal discipline, yet under Bush the national debt has skyrocketed. Given the horrendous record compiled by Bush, the thumping the GOP took on Tuesday was much deserved.
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