As the Pendulum Swings

As the Pendulum Swings
By Dr. Jimmie Applegate

“There is a tide in the affairs of men. Which, when taken at the flood, leads on to fortune; Omitted, all the voyage of their life Is bound in shallows and in miseries. On such a full ”sea are we now afloat, And we must take the current when it serves. Or lose our venture”
William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar, Act, Scene 3

In two years the political pendulum swung from the liberal left to the conservative right. In 2008 the incoming Democratic tide was tinted purple, but the Republican tsunami of 2010 inundated maps of the United States from coast to coast with a deep red tide. Arguably this Republican resurgence resulted from the disgust, dismay and dissatisfaction of voters with the policies, principles and practices of President Obama. In other words, the 2010 Republican washout of the Democratic power bases in state legislatures, governorships and congressional seats may have happened primarily because Americans were being forced to accept changes they did not vote for in 2008, and did not want in 2010.
President Obama and Democratic majorities in the Senate and House ran rough shod over the expectations of the American people like unwelcome gluttonous guests filling their legislative plates to overflowing in their haste to complete their progressive socialist agenda. The slow, deliberate legislative process based on the Constitution and Bill of Rights that served America well for more than 200 yearswas challenged by egocentric legislators who were intent on enacting legislation to implement their vision of a new and more wonderful world.
Obama’s promises made, implied, or just plain wished for by enthralled Americans were not kept or were unfilled. And his personal political ideology was seen as based more on European socialist theories than on the practices of the American system of private enterprise. Americans believed that Obama’s promises of transparency such as publishing proposed legislation on line, no deals in smoke filled back rooms and no earmarks were ignored. Other promises like being treated with respect as intelligent adults who expected politicians to represent and to work forthe people in the states who elected them were forgotten as well.
OK, so the American people repudiated Obama’s socialist ideology advocating redistribution of wealth through increased taxation and spending, centralizing bigger government, growing government control of private industry and government control of health care. What are the implications for the Republican Party if the 2010 vote was a rejection of Obama’s failures and not necessarily an affirmation of Republican politicians or policies?
Several points are clear. A dictatorship of the extreme Right will be no more effective than was the dictatorship of the Left. Given Obama’s history of immoderation—my way or the highway—expect more of the same despite his murmurings to the contrary. Governing solely by an ideology that deprives Americans of their constitutionally guaranteed rights and without giving serious consideration to pragmatic alternatives will not work as 2010 showed. Ignoring strong signals from the electorate as the Democrats did following the elections in Virginia, North Carolina and Massachusetts will result in disaster. Likewise there will be consequences if Independents and special interest groups are ignored.And the American people are fed up of being ignored by the very people they elected to represent them locally, in state houses and Washington, D.C.
Republicans will ignore these points at their peril. They must actto cut spending thereby reducing the out of control national debt, to repeal or drastically modify ObamaCare, to enforce state and federal laws, to protect our borders and to decrease the size and interference of the federal government by respecting state and individual rights. In sum, Republicans must act in concert with the principles of constitutional conservatism in a federal republic governed by the Constitution under the rule of law. If they do not, the pendulum will swing again in 2012. Which way and how far it will swing depends on the events of the next two years.