Well, by now most everyone knows that the Democratic party has gained a strong majority in the US House of Representatives and may yet gain a single-vote majority in the US Senate, depending on how the Virginia Senate race turns out. Now, I've been thinking about just what this might mean for us regular folks, and I have some ideas. Also, the election points out some things.
First, let me say how amazing this is, and healthy in a way, for our nation. That is not to say that I'm glad that power in our legislature has shifted the way it has, just that I'm glad to be in a nation where such a shift does not mean we are about to start a war. This sort of thing can lead to violence in many places all over the world, and has. I think it is important to remember that, with our system, nothing is really permanent and there is always next time.
Second, I am interested in voter turn-out statistics, particularly regarding conservative Christians. From what I've read/heard, the nation-wide turnout was about 40%, which is actually slightly higher than the last mid-term election cycle in 2002. However, this election was radically different in the way many races were balanced. There has been a push among some supposedly conservative Christian groups to step away from the political process because neither side has met our expectations. I realize that the Iraq war, or rather weariness of it, probably drove most people to seek change, but I wonder how many Christians chose to simply stay home rather than vote for conservatives that have let them down, seemingly. I'm not sure where to answer these questions, but I bet there will be studies published on the internet pretty soon.
I now expect a couple of things to happen. I expect that the Democratic majority will initiate impeachment of President Bush. This can happen with a simple majority of the House of Reps., which they now have. The charges will have something to do with the way he led the nation into Iraq, none of the craziness about him being behind the 9/11 attacks. He will certainly not be convicted in the Senate, but the Democrats will feel vindicated over the Clinton impeachment and will feel like they really stuck it to Bush, whom they hate with utter abandon.
I also expect that absolutely NOTHING will get done in Washington, DC, for the next 2 years. The president still has to sign bills into law, and the Democrats don't have the votes to overturn vetoes - especially since I expect the remaining Republicans to really circle the wagons. This means that the country is safe from attempts to pull out of Iraq immediately or to immediately overturn the tax cuts, and a whole host of other ideas liberals have been formulating over the past 12 years.
The truly interesting thing coming out of this election is the run-up to the next one, which will have a much greater potential impact. We should be looking for both parties to really get serious about finding that perfect presidential nominee. Those 2 individuals will have the greatest impact on which party will be able to further its agenda.
As a Christian, I feel the need to affirm that this world is not our home. We do not look to the government to provide all that we need - we look to Jesus. Also, I see that our representatives in government must be held accountable for their actions, regardless of party, and held to a high standard. The Republicans who have had moral problems have certainly hurt their cause among conservatives and must look to set their own affairs in order (no pun intended). In addition, Christians need to take stock of the issues that are confronting our society today and need to be reminded that we cannot afford, on any level, to sit back and allow the world around us to decline morally without lifting our voices in warning. We dare not become those lazy watchers on the wall who have the blood of innocents on their hands.
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4 comments:
Well, I was sad to see that Conservatives didn't win. I actually voted, and now it didn't seem like it counted so much. Oh, well. Better luck next time!
Do you really think they'll impeach Bush? That seems a little extreme, especially for something that didn't just happen. We've been in the war awhile. But maybe you're right. Maybe liberals hate Bush more than I realize.
I do believe that nothing will get done in the White House. Stalemate on every issue. Hopefully, Conservatives (and everyone, really) will realize they need to get out and vote! If everyone in the US voted, which way do you think it would go? My guess is that the majority of Americans are conservative, but I may be wrong...
Our church did a big campaign to promote "Voting Your Values." For publicity, they had me consult a website that put together media kits and such for distribution to churches. So, it looks like there are efforts out there to encourage Christians to vote... and, yes, the statistics were somewhat staggering about how few Christians said they actually voted according to their values... usually they vote along party lines, by peer pressure, or for a personality.
As a person who doesn't regularly keep up with politics, I found it extremely difficult to inform myself as a voter with unbiased resources. Almost everything I read had a twist to it... or they stated NA for their views on certain topics so as not to offend anyone. It just seems so wishy washy to me. Come on, people, take a stand!
CT, your ideas are pretty much what I discussed with my students this week who asked, what will happen now? And I also affirmed that living in a democracy means we can do this change over without bloodshed. Amazing, really.
PS: Can you change your site from black with white writing? I see shadows are staring at your posts!
Many of your observations are correct. And I will add (in comment to Lydia's post) that President Bush is deeply hated by many liberals in this country. It has to do with two basic things: the fact that he didn't let Gore steal the election in 2000 and his Christian faith. The two combined have caused this deep hatred to develop.
However it is extremely sad that many good Christian people (Rep. Jim Ryan of Kansas, Sen. Jim Talent of Missouri, and Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania among others) were thrown out of office when they were innocent of the corruption of others who won re-election. The American voter votes irresponsibly in my opinion because they fail to properly inform themselves before going into the voting booth and they believe so called mainstream media sources like ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, the New York Times and other gullibly without realizing their thorough dishonesty.
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