Optimistic, But Vigilant

It has been two months since voters made their choices, and come this week (Wednesday to be specific), the 112th Congress will take charge. But with the GOP now in control of the House, a reduced Democratic majority in the Senate, and another dose of change at the White House (sigh), the situation already looks starkly different from the picture projected in 2009, when the now essentially defunct 111th Congress took the reigns.

When the 111th Congress was set in stone in November of 2008, it was the culmination of voter anger ultimately directed at George W. Bush’s administration — an administration that made a mockery of American conservatism and its erstwhile partisan cousin, the Republican Party. Under the younger Bush, a combination of pandering to the Religious Right (a distinct breed separate from traditional social conservatives) and neoconservatives, egregious catchphrases by the likes of “deficits don’t matter” and “mission accomplished”, and rules that allowed government growth — both fiscally and physically — to reach unprecedented levels all took its toll on the Grand Old Party. Despite establishment cries that any Democrat would be far more dangerous than any Republican, voters saw the truth and voted with their own two feet.

While the Democrats had the last laugh in 2006 and 2008, the general losers were mainly Republicans who boasted about wanting to impose laws regulating the personal choices of the average American (be it poker, marriage or anything else best left to individuals or to the states), yet were either silent or defiant when fiscally sound proposals to reform Social Security and Medicare, reduce the oversized and pork-laden Department of Defense or reformulate the country’s archaic tax code came up. The same attitudes were espoused when these same Republicans were exposed for their roles in such controversial legislation as the infamous “Bridge to Nowhere”, the PATRIOT Act, No Child Left Behind, Medicare Part D and TARP — which provided Americans a toxic diet of constitutional junk unfit to be considered elements of “limited government”.

2008 was indeed not a good year to be a Republican. No matter how much the GOP establishment tried to cry wolf that Nancy Pelosi was a disastrous speaker (and yes, she has been disastrous in her role), even worse was the fact that many Republicans contributed to the mess as well both when Pelosi held the gavel and when her GOP predecessor Dennis Hastert did as well. And no matter how much some Republicans tried to play the God card with the Federal Marriage Amendment, the war card with the War in Iraq, or the economy card with TARP, the toxic stew of lax fiscal discipline, government intrusions in intricate personal matters best left to the states and the general public, a misguided military policy and constitutional disrespect only served to make the Republican Party’s time-tested, winning and longstanding stances on fiscal responsibility, sophisticated foreign policy, and respect for constitutional boundaries insanely hypocritical.

That being said, moving forward two years later, I was nothing more than honest with my views at the Texas GOP convention in Dallas last June, of which I had the privilege to attend as an alternate delegate from the same sliver of suburban Houston that I have long been associated with. And Minnesota congresswoman and tea party favorite Michele Bachmann — for all the imperfections during her congressional tenure — gave a rather anti-climatic speech during an evening banquet that epitomized the importance of the 2010 elections — even apologizing for her home state, a traditional Democratic bastion, introducing the world to such actors as Eugene McCarthy and Al Franken (as if “break a leg” even mattered to them). Indeed, Bachmann was elected in a competitive 2006 race as a conservative Republican who prevailed in a year that some in the GOP establishment tried to paint as one where Republican losses stemmed from swinging too far to the right, when in fact the Washington Republican establishment became not much different from the Democrats they claimed to oppose.

The highlight of the convention, however, was the rare floor fight vote – where I had the rare opportunity to cast my vote for newly minted Texas GOP Chairman Steve Munisteri – despite being ranked in the middle tier of the alternate pack of 77. And it was a group that was more than able to supplement the 77 delegates from my corner of Texas Senate District 17, a gerrymandered district’s gerrymandered district that stretches  in the manner of a snake from Bellaire through the glorious west side of Houston, Katy, Sugar Land, Lake Jackson and Galveston, all the way to Port Arthur. Of course, I managed to gain valuable political experience and met a variety of new faces I never saw in person before, including Munisteri himself.

2010 was indeed the kind of year that I hoped for: a year where Republicans returned to focusing on the principles that got them elected in the first place, as opposed to trying to be everything to everyone or basing arguments on sentiment or identity instead of logic — an approach that failed in the last two elections. The establishment attacked Munisteri as being “moderate”, while disregarding the fact that Munisteri helped to found the Young Conservatives of Texas — a well-respected conservative organization in the state — many years back. But given the establishment’s past political fallacies, a new crop of Republican, conservative and Tea Party newcomers (yours truly included) saw a different view of the situation and the winds of change within the Texas GOP did more than just prevail this time. In this clearly anti-establishment election, Republicans in Texas benefited greatly, winning three congressional seats and gaining a near super-majority of 99 Republicans elected to the state House; that majority has since become a true super-majority of 101 with the recent defections of two House Democrats to the GOP conference.

In 2011, I can only hope that the new Republican majority in the U.S. House, the GOP newcomers in the U.S. Senate, and the Elephant Stampede’s super-majority in the Texas Legislature will finally wake up and realize that what got them elected was not their party label, but the votes of millions of Americans fed up with the political establishment buying time and using it to abuse the wheels of government and jeopardize the future of the country and its over 300 million residents. If reforming the government to keep it out of our wallets, our doctors’ offices, our gun cases, our schools, our places of worship and our bedrooms and reallocating resources to where they belong means being called “racist”, “sexist”, “heartless”, “elitist”, “anti-American” or worse, so be it. The average American is tired of having to play the hypocrite card with those elected to serve their interests and defend the Constitution they were sworn in on, but who then take their cars and go on a joyride, leaving their constituents with the bill.

And Republicans should also remember this argument, especially if they want to continue holding their House majority in Washington, gain the keys to the most exclusive club in the world (the Senate), and keep their legislative super-majority in Austin. When voters are forced to choose between one of two choices: a Republican who panders to phony populism in voting for wasteful spending and pork projects, putting our country in debt, and bloating our nation’s already overstretched military system…eventually resorting to social issues best left to lower levels of government and society just to distract voters from their abysmal records on important issues, and a Democrat that voters know will push for such an activist government, voters will choose the Democrat on the belief that the Democrat is being honest and the Republican is being hypocritical. And proud patriotic Americans will always forgive sinners, but have no respect for hypocrites.

If Republicans fail to realize the primary reason they got elected in the first place, ignore pressings issues that demand immediate attention, and instead resort to attacking Obama on such trivial matters as his birth certificate or even whether or not his burger has Dijon mustard, the Donkey Brigade will be more than glad to take back the baton and benefit from such distractions. As a Republican who is looking forward to the next presidential election (as well as a competitive U.S. Senate primary I am anticipating in 2012), I remain optimistic about the chances of true leadership prevailing during the new legislative sessions in Washington and Austin. But I also remain vigilant, for the people of this great country deserve more than just promises, they want action. And my hope is that by the end of this week, a well-deserved dose of action will prevail.

Advertisement