One Year Later

What a difference a year makes! This time last year, President Obama was inaugurated, the Republican Party was dead, and everything was George W. Bush’s fault. Obama’s approval rating was close to 70 percent. As the “moderate” candidate Obama became the “liberal” President, public opinion began to shift. After the 2008 Election, many pundits wondered if America, which traditionally has been a center-right country, had shifted to a center-left country. So what happened? The administration closed Guantanamo Bay and hired lawyers to defend terrorists. Delayed responding to the escalation of war in Afghanistan, and were caught off guard by Al Qaeda’s determination to attack the country. After campaigning on reducing abortions, Obama began funding abortions overseas with tax money. Meanwhile, unemployment had risen above 10 percent, even after the $800 billion stimulus which was supposed to keep unemployment under 8 percent. The Tea Parties across the country were laughed at and ridiculed. Purple Virginia and blue New Jersey elected Republican Governors. However, this was dismissed by the administration as merely the result of poor Democratic candidates. The Democratic Party and the President ignored the warning signs and pushed ahead with an unpopular health care bill. After campaigning on openness and transparency, the Obama administration became secretive, holding Democrat only meetings behind closed doors, paying off wary Senators in exchange for their votes. President Obama’s approval rating plummeted more than any other president in modern history. Yet, somehow, the American public was still ignored.

Then, in a stunning turn of events this week, the Senate seat held by the late Ted Kennedy in liberal Massachusetts, a state Obama won by 25 points last year, went Republican, electing Scott Brown as Senator. I still cannot fully wrap my mind around how stunning that is. The Republican Party, declared dead this time last year, won in Massachusetts of all places. Will the administration and Democrats ignore this too?

It appears so. In Robert Gibbs press conference yesterday, he tried to spin Brown’s election in Obama’s favor. Gibbs, Obama’s press secretary, tried to convince the American people that the vote in Massachusetts was not about Obama’s policies, but rather, the result of – get ready – what Bush had done to the country. In an interview yesterday, Obama believes the the same thing. Is he that delusional? Arrogant? Or just in denial and shock?

As we approach November and the mid-term elections, how will the Democratic Party respond? This may serve as a good wake-up call for them to take Clinton’s practical approach and move to the center before it’s too late. But Obama, Pelosi, and Reid are much more ideological than Bill Clinton was. The Democratic leadership continues to think one of two things: a.) they just simply aren’t explaining their plans well enough, or b.) the American people are stupid. If those remain their only two thoughts, then the Democratic Party is in for a major defeat come November. Yet to be seen is whether or not the Blue Dog Democrats are truly blue dogs and able to stand up against their liberal leadership. Evan Bayh, are you there?

As for the Republicans, Scott Brown laid out a great template for the campaign. Fight against spending and new taxes – attack terrorism instead of defending it – and allow states to decide for themselves what to do about many of these major issues such as health care. What Massachusetts proved last night, and what Virginia and New Jersey proved in November, and what the polls have said all along, is that this country is still a center-right country that values limited government and individual liberty. It will be interesting to see whether Obama and the Democrats understands this over the next few months.