Dems Rule!

How good is it to see the headline in the New York Times, "Democrats take the Gavels in Congress"!

At last some sensible policy can begin to have a chance again in the United States. And the lame-duck President can either veto it and have nothing done, or can sign into law policies which he hates.

Sounds too like they are going to adopt a cautious, bipartisan approach - a clear difference to the twelve long years of partisan madness the "Contract with America" loonies imposed upon the U.S. Congress. Now let us see if they deliver - on that and on the policies for which they said they stood.

Note: some of the comments on this post on DPF's blog indicate a certain wilful blindness. "Sounds too like..." is a clear indication that I'll believe in the democratic party's non-partisan intentions when I see them and not a moment sooner. And if people insist on reading hyperbole literally, well, I take no responsibility for their lack of comprehension.

Comments

[Oliver]

I'm waiting to see when the tensions between the guys who won the swing states and the traditional democrat elite start to bite. The guys who won the swing states (Webb etc) are largely pro-gun, anti-abortion, anti-gay marriage, anti-trade, environmentally dubious characters that are bound to have a a hard time getting along with the East and West Coast Elite that form the senoir levels of the US Democratic Party.

[Kiwi in Zurich]

Oliver I can't possibly see any of the Libs even attempting to tackle at least three of the issues you raise: pro-gun, anti-abortion, anti-gay marriage. Trade and the environment perhaps, but I think Iraq and budget balancing are going to be more of a focus for them.

[James P]

A number of of the newly elected Democrats in the House of Representatives are certainly very right-wing. However, it will be interesting to see how the leadership of Nancy Pelossi, a Californian liberal, will configure the strategic manoeuvres of the Democrat caucas.

[Craig Ranapia]

James P.:

I think you have a point, and I'd also add that many of these new 'Blue Dog' Democrats won with incredibly thin margins. Now, Pelosi seems to have played dishing out the patronage fairly smart; and I've little doubt that there will be plenty of pork flowing into vulnerable districts well before the '08 general. But when push comes to shove, Tip O'Neill had a point when he said 'all politics is local' and that can play merry hell with party discipline on Capitol Hill. I think some commentators outside the US need to get their heads around the idea that the Democrats and the Republicans don't split quite as neatly along left/right lines as parties tend to do in New Zealand, Australia and the UK.

[tim barclay]

It is not going to be bi-partison of course. What Nancy Pelosi is saying is co-operate and do things my way and I will call it bi-partisonship.

[James P]

I hope that Pelosi does make good use of the Democrats' new leverage in Congress.

The liberal left in the US have been far too passive for far too long. This has compounded a situation in which right-wing conservatism has become the only game in town. Such an absence of real political debate clearly militates against the effective functioning of democratic institutions.

[DS]

I wish people would stop spouting this revisionist nonsense that the newly-elected Democratic congressmen are somehow wannabe Republicans who are really closer to Bush than Pelosi. The vast majority of the newcomers are not "conservatives". Jim Webb, for instance, while he used to be Reagan's Secretary for the Navy, also happens to be pro-choice, pro-gay rights, and has recently made a speech slamming corporate power and the growing divide between rich and poor. He also happens to be opposed to the Iraq War.

Of the socially conservative newcomers who do exist, they'll be largely behind the Democrat's economic platform (higher minimum wage, etc). One of the perks of controlling Congress is that you get to set the legislative agenda, and chances are that Pelosi will be setting an agenda focussing more on "real" issues, and less on the artificial Republican "wedge" issues (abortion, banning gay marriage) that for so long created a situation where poor people were voting for the party of the rich.

[James Winchester]

There are positives and negatives about the Democrat take-over of Congress. Obviously, they'll be able to finally put some pressure on Bush in areas where the Republican Congress would not. The other obviously good thing about the Democrats is that they don't have the loony anti-immigrant approach of many Republicans.

Nevertheless, we are still talking about the Democrats, here. They're the same people that love criticizing free-trade, think that out-sourcing jobs is bad, who are promising to raise the minimum wage and thereby destroy the jobs of many poor Americans.....