A sharp lurch to the left and enactment of a liberal agenda, or major parts of it, are all but inevitable. The centrist limits in earlier eras of Democratic control are gone. Full Story »
Posted by Derek Hawkins
Interesting opinion piece by Weekly Standard editor Fred Barnes, pointing to the anticipated democratic rise to power resulting from today's election. The author presents reasonable factual evidence to support his points, which are logically presented. It provides helpful context on how conservatives view the likely aftermath of this election.
I question several of the author's assumptions, starting with his assertion that "we're in a centrist country." The past eight years have shown a strong dominance of the political agenda by the Republican party, with Bush in office and a republican majority in congress up to 2006. I also question the statement that "the mainstream media has become reflexively liberal." While I hear this a lot from conservatives, I have not yet seen conclusive evidence that this is indeed the case. But I do agree with the author's concerns about a lack of checks and balances if both Obama and a filibuster-proof majority of Democrats are elected today. There is indeed a possibility that Democrats could take over the political agenda, much as Republicans did in the past decade. My hope is that we will find ways to avoid that pitfall, and engage all citizens of this country to join forces to rebuild a united country, rather than perpetuate the divisiveness and polarization that has plagued our political landscape for too long.