Myths
Myths that were more or less dispelled by the 2006 elections:
1. Karl Rove is an unbeatable political genius.
In fact, Karl Rove is a reasonably smart political consultant, who knew how to take advantage of a terrified public in the first two post-9/11 elections. But, as 2006 demonstrates, he had no backup plan when that didn't work.
2. The country is now going to have an enduring Republican majority.
Clearly the Republicans themselves believed it, because they put a lot of rules in place that make the minority party's life miserable (now I almost wish they'd gone through with eliminating the judicial filibuster). But I think the opposite is true: I think the country would have trended back toward the Democrats in 2002, had 9/11 not terrified everybody into voting for Bush and his party. I think this election was less about fear and more about actual policy than any in years, and the Democrats won decisively. I think that will hold up for at least the next few years.
3. The Republicans are just going to steal elections with rigged voting machines. As Adam Felber said over at Fanatical Apathy:
Mind you, I'm not saying the Republicans don't play dirty pool--there are plenty of examples. But Diebold is not being used to ensure Republican victories.
1. Karl Rove is an unbeatable political genius.
In fact, Karl Rove is a reasonably smart political consultant, who knew how to take advantage of a terrified public in the first two post-9/11 elections. But, as 2006 demonstrates, he had no backup plan when that didn't work.
2. The country is now going to have an enduring Republican majority.
Clearly the Republicans themselves believed it, because they put a lot of rules in place that make the minority party's life miserable (now I almost wish they'd gone through with eliminating the judicial filibuster). But I think the opposite is true: I think the country would have trended back toward the Democrats in 2002, had 9/11 not terrified everybody into voting for Bush and his party. I think this election was less about fear and more about actual policy than any in years, and the Democrats won decisively. I think that will hold up for at least the next few years.
3. The Republicans are just going to steal elections with rigged voting machines. As Adam Felber said over at Fanatical Apathy:
If the Democrats DO manage to win a house or two, many of us will owe the Republican establishment a gigantic apology for alleging that their money-changing and machine-fixing ways had stolen our democracy. That apology CAN take the form of something like “I’m sorry I thought you were a lot better at cheating than you actually are.” Still, that does count as an apology.
Mind you, I'm not saying the Republicans don't play dirty pool--there are plenty of examples. But Diebold is not being used to ensure Republican victories.
<< Home