Cool I look forward to seeing it when it comes out!
Justin
You continue to impress me with your writing ability; however, this piece to me was quite interesting.
You spend a vast majority of the time painting a fictional and unrealistic picture of a future under Democratic control based on typical Republican stereotypes of Democratic ideas and ideals. You then go on to admit that the Republicans in power have made mistakes, though you fall short of calling it a "do-nothing" Congress as it surely is.
What you do not do is say how Republicans are going to improve upon what they are currently doing. A vast majority of Americans believe this nation is on the wrong course; like the Republican Party as a whole, you seem to not realize that "stay the course" just might not work this time around. Changes, experimentation, even some ideas that will inevitably fail are better than continuing down a tried course that we have seen fail time and time again over the last 6 years of Republican rule.
If one or both houses of Congress change hands this year, it will be because of a perception gap; Republican leaders continue to see the glass as half full while most of the country realizes that it is not only empty but broken and in desperate need of repair. The Democrats running might not be glassmakers, but hopefully they can at least bring a little superglue until bigger changes can be made in 2008.
These are the stakes. Two years of meaningless, politically-motivated, investigation coupled with misdirected foreign policy and a shattered economy. That is far worse for the country than anything the Republicans will enact in the next two years.
As a political piece it has a nice punch at the end there.
If you can't say your guys are the good guys then focus on the bad guys.
What you do not do is say how Republicans are going to improve upon what they are currently doing.
It seems to me that Democrats may once again be falling into the trap of believing their own polls and their own Old Press about the Great Change that people supposedly desire. People do desire a change in Iraq but they probably don't desire all that much change domestically because the economy is decent, gas prices have fallen and there's change in their pockets. I.e. on the local and day to day issues that most people care about they're probably pretty content and may well vote that way, especially if such a dynamic is combined with the huge advantage that incumbents already enjoy. It may be the Old Press, the pundits, the pollsters and bloggers who focus on the Big Issues that will supposedly lead to Great Change.
"the economy is decent, gas prices have fallen and there's change in their pockets. I.e. on the local and day to day issues that most people care about they're probably pretty content and may well vote that way."
Obviously we'll not know for sure until Tuesday, but my general feeling just from talking to people, both democrat and republican, is that they are not very pleased with the economy and more bad news comes out every day. Republican moods generally speaking are pessimistic - self-fullfilling prophecy is a powerful thing (I hope!).
That is what you excerpt ?
Jeez. I can't imagine how inane the rest of it is.
I read your column in the Review. Congratulations on getting published.
Because I am sitting this election out, I decided to view this election as an average Joe American would. As such, I have to say your piece just did not convince me to vote Republican. First, you talk about the economy - the trillions added by the tax cuts and the millions of jobs created. As an average Joe I just don't see how these new jobs have made a difference; I mean, what good are new jobs when you need two of them to put food on the table. You also write about how the Democrats will run the economy into the ground, but as an average Joe I remember the 90s as good times and those good times were presided over by Bill Clinton (and rightly or wrongly I give him the credit).
Second, you talk about the War in Iraq. As an average Joe, I fully support the men and women who have laid down their lives so that we who remain behind may be safe. However, I have started to wonder if this war I initially supported was even a necessary war and if it was the right war. I look at Iraq now and I see a quagmire of our own making and wonder if it all won't come back to bite us a few years from now.
Third, you talk a lot about investigations. As an average Joe, watching the news it seems that a Congressman steps down and or is sent to prison every night. It makes me think that shedding a little light into those dark recesses of power isn't a bad idea.
Finally, you close by arguing that with the Democrats in power it will be far worse than anything the Republicans have done in the past or could do in the next two years. To an average Joe, that isn't a rousing rally cry. In fact, it just doesn't add up. Things are pretty bad right now; I can't imagine how they could get much worse by making a change, but do see how they could not improve by sending the same people back to Washington.
Again, let me say I support absolutely no one in this election. I just thought you might want to hear how an average Joe who is an Independent views your column. Considering you were working with such difficult material, I think you did a bang up job. Keep writing.
Commenting by HaloScan
