I will start by thanking the author of last week’s article-“Despite opposition, Republicans plod onward”-for proving my point that the United States is ready for a Democratic President by admitting that Republicans are bloated with corruption. According to Rasmussen Reports, Americans are also fed up with Bush and Republicans enough to support Democrats on the following issues that hurt them in 2006-and will hurt them again in 2008: the economy, social security, health care, education and even immigration, taxes and abortion. All things considered, Americans are incredibly tired of the Republican brand itself.
We have watched and read enough of news to know that the Republican Party is the one concerned with God, guns, and gays. They believe the issue of gay marriage is more important than healthcare. They think the right to carry an assault rifle is more important than the right to a fair election. The fear mongering party also claims to be a party of “traditional family values” but has transformed into the party of child molesters, adulterers and criminals. They are the party of Jerry Falwell, Ted Haggard, Pat Robertson, Larry Craig, David Vitter, Mark Foley, Tom Delay, Bob Ney, Duke Cunningham, Jack Abramoff and many others.
Even members of the conservative base that so loyally voted in 2000 and 2004 are now pretending that they had nothing to do with electing the president now testing historical lows of unpopularity (A Newsweek poll put him at a low of 26 percent). As the stream of resignations of Bush’s closest confidants continues unabated, corruption charges pile up. Even the biggest rats like Donald Rumsfeld, Harriet Miers, John Bolton, Alberto Gonzales and even Karl Rove have jumped ship!
How easily swayed do some people think Americans are? Do they really believe we will automatically begin supporting the war just because Petraeus, under close instruction from Bush, is predicted to give a positive speech? Iraqis have only met three out of 18 congressionally mandated benchmarks for political and military progress?
If you have so much faith in Petraeus, why didn’t you believe him when he said, “There is no military solution to a problem like that in Iraq. Military action is necessary to help improve security … but it is not sufficient. There needs to be a political aspect.” Sure, maybe an abusive husband will quit beating his wife when the cops are around, but how long can the cops afford to stay? The U.S. was wrong to try to fix a conflict within Islam that has raged between Sunnis and Shiites since 632.
Likewise, you are wrong to believe that Republicans in the White House and Congress will be vindicated for their mistakes. The radical conservatives who proclaim, “The surge is working,” are the same ones who said, “We will be greeted as liberators,” or, “The oil will pay for the war.”
Instead, let me turn the tables with a couple questions. Where is Osama Bin Laden? How many terrorists responsible for Sept. 11, 2001 were from Iraq? Why did Bush veto healthcare for children after bipartisan support in Congress? Did Bush inherit a surplus or a deficit in 2001? Was a proud liberal populist like Sherrod Brown in swing-state Ohio one of the “conservative Dems” that you say were the only Democrats that won in 2006? Do you really think a war that has lasted longer than WWII will be “vindicated in the coming months?”
My strongest advice to the author would be to stop confusing what you think will happen with what you want to happen. If you don’t believe me, look at the numbers! You think America is a conservative country? Three groups that are growing quickly in America are young people, independents and Hispanics. A Democracy Corps poll from the Washington firm of Greenberg Quinlan Rosner showed that young Americans are so disenchanted with Republicans about Iraq, global warming and same-sex marriage that they believe Democrats better represent their views than Republicans by a margin of two-thirds.
These young voters are projected to represent 17 percent of the 2008 electorate! According to the poll, “The political stakes with this generation could not be higher. In 2008, young people, aged 18 to 31 years old, will number 50 million, bigger than the baby boom generation. By 2015 they will likely comprise one-third of the U.S. electorate…” After breaking nearly 2-1 for Democrats in 2006, I would really like to see how Republicans deal with these pesky youth voters in future elections.
Next, independents are a growing segment of voters, reaching about 30 percent of the electorate today. They broke evenly between Bush and Kerry in 2004 at about 48 percent each, but decisively chose Democrats in the 2006 midterm elections. These voters, like the majority of Americans, are looking for change, not a continuation of the status quo with another Republican in office.
The fastest-growing minority in the nation, Hispanics, supported Democrats in 2006 by a margin of 69 percent to 30 percent according to CNN exit polls. This is a huge jump in support for the Democrats, considering that Bush garnered as much as 44 percent of the Hispanic vote in 2004. Keep trumpeting that illegal immigrants are the worst thing in the world-because Democrats really appreciate you alienating so many Hispanic voters!
Finally, a recent Pew Research Poll found that despite being locked equally at 43 percent each in party registration in 2002, Democrats have risen to a whopping 50 percent of the public that identify as or lean toward Democrat compared to only 35 percent who identify as or lean Republican. Republicans have already admitted they will likely lose at least another four senate seats in 2008 while the respected Cook Political Report also shows that Democrats are likely to expand their healthy House majority even further.
Americans agree with Democrats on the issues. The fact that Democrats have hit many roadblocks in trying to accomplish their legislative goals has only made Americans more likely to vote for a Democratic President in 2008, to ensure that these goals are met. Unfortunately for Republicans, the road ahead is a lot longer than you think.
Peter Hamel is a senior in the John Cook School of Business.
