It seems like we can all sleep a little easier now that a 12-year Republican reign plagued by bitterness and scandal is over — right?
That may be conditional upon whether Democrats can deliver on issues Americans value without creating barriers to bipartisan cooperation.
Democrats celebrated a long-overdue victory, regaining control of both the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate on Nov. 7. The Democrats picked up the seat they needed to take control of the Senate when Virginia’s Republican incumbent George Allen conceded to Jim Webb, his Democratic challenger. In the House, Democrats gained at least 28 seats, most likely making Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) the first woman to be Speaker of the House.
The broad realignment in Congress has made it clear that the people want a new direction in government. It seems as if over the past few years, America has witnessed on a very personal level what conservative rule today is really like. They have seen an unnecessary war, a great American city left to drown and corruption that has reached deep into our political system.
The power shift will hopefully mean a new bipartisan strategy in Iraq, less government corruption, an improved economy, better protection from terrorists and an effective immigration policy.
Let’s hope that the Democrats are able to bring about these much-needed changes in Congress without continuing the ideological wars that have dominated Congress in recent years.
First, there are some things that Democrats should not do.
“”It’s up to us to prove that [we’re] better than just a mirror image of the people they voted against,”” Sen. Evan Bayh (D-Ind.) told USA Today last week. “”If we serve up a highly partisan, ideologically extreme, Democratic version of what they just voted against, we’re not going to do very well.””
Instead of creating barriers to bipartisan cooperation by investigating past administrations policies, Democrats should push for the kind of reform that they have been salivating over for quite some time.
These issues include the affordability of health care and college, pension and job security and reducing the nation’s dependence on imported oil. The “”Six for ‘06″” agenda includes efforts to increase minimum wage and advance the development of stem cell research.
A common thread in the campaigns of challenging Democrats was concern for the middle class, which is increasingly at risk in an age of growing inequality. Webb emphasized this issue in his Virginia Senate campaign, but it is a relevant issue to the nation as a whole.
Rep. Nancy Boyda (D-Kan.) talked about a rural economy that has been ignored by today’s market.
“”A lot of my district feels a great deal of insecurity about their jobs, their health care, their business, their family farm,”” told the New York Times. “”They feel like they’re just kind of hanging out there.””
Other promises included a national health insurance program, which failed during the Clinton administration, but may gain momentum. Representative-elect Dave Loebsack of Iowa, who defeated incumbent Republican Rep. Jim Leach, said that legislation to create a single-payer national health insurance program would be one of the first things he would do in Congress. Rep. Steven Kagen (D-Wis.) is one of many new House members pushing for a renewed commitment to the more than 8 million uninsured children in the United States.
Most new Democrats are also committed to reforming the new Medicare prescription drug plan, starting with giving the government authority to negotiate prices with drug companies. These issues have remained stagnant under the Republican Congress, as the failed effort during Clinton’s administration was a possible factor in the Democrats’ losses in 1994.
Supporters of granting citizenship to some or all illegal immigrants say that the Democratic takeover of Congress has greatly aided their cause, and could lead to sweeping changes in immigration law.
But the greatest responsibility of the Democrats, at least for now, is to prove their ability to handle national security, starting with a new course in Iraq. Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del.), who will chair the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has proposed a new Iraq strategy that would withdraw 110,000 of the 140,000 U.S. troops in Iraq and grant significant powers to the country’s ethnic regions in an effort to place more responsibility on Iraqi citizens.
Perhaps the biggest obstacle will be maintaining bipartisan cooperation over the issue. Many new Democrats have faith in the bipartisan Iraq Study group, led by former Secretary of State James A. Baker, which will allow for both parties to collaborate and make good decisions upon which a majority agrees.
Although the built-up frustration with the Bush administration’s past decisions may tempt Democrats to launch scores of investigations, the effort would be much better spent working on reform as quickly as possible.
The Democrats must keep in mind that they were elected because of America’s frustrations with the corruption of Republican power, and it is now up to them to reform Congress so that there is bipartisan ethical oversight to steer the country in a better direction. Failure to do so will result in the pendulum swinging right back to where it was.
Let’s hope that the Democrats can do things right.
