Is Republican Optimism Really Justified?
Republicans are jubilant. On Tuesday they picked up at least seven Senate seats and majority control—they increased their rule of the House—they won several key governors’ races. It was a big win, bigger than most analysts expected.
Republican optimism is swelling. Sen. Mitch McConnell, likely the next Senate majority leader, called this “a chance to begin to save this country.”
How realistic is it, though, to think Republicans can really “save this country”?
A lot of Americans agree the country needs saving. Problems are legion—runaway debt, economic inequality, unemployment, immigration concerns, racial tension and violence, foreign-policy blunders, waning global influence. Two thirds of voters—including 89 percent of Republicans and 71 percent of unaffiliated voters—say the United States is headed in the wrong direction.
But it takes real naivety to expect solutions to come out of these elections.
Set aside the fact that opposition to the president is not a solution. Disregard that Republicans have nothing approaching consensus on how to address the economic, domestic and international problems facing America.
The real issue is this: No one should expect this president to take any correction from these elections. Nothing his administration has done over the past six years gives cause for any such belief.
This administration views virtually everything it has done over the last six years as a terrific success—mitigated only by partisan stonewalling by Republicans.
Look at its foreign-policy record, to take just one example. It has authored stunning failures in Iraq, Egypt, Libya, Syria and elsewhere in the Middle East; it has effectively aided Iran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons; it has played the spectator to the rise of Islamic State; it has ravaged alliances with Israel, Britain, Poland, Germany and other nations; it has been embarrassed by a militant Russia and a belligerent China. Yet the administration sees its leadership as having improved global tranquility and enhanced prospects for peace on “every fundamental issue of conflict today.”
Similar abysmal evidence abounds in many other arenas—as does the administration’s unwarranted confidence in its own success. Despite presiding over a stagnant economy, chronic unemployment and a $7 trillion increase in national debt, the president praises his economic accomplishments (though, tellingly, no Democrats ran on that record). Despite proof that lax immigration policies encouraged more illegal immigration, the administration wants to go a step further and grant amnesty to millions of resident illegals. Plagued by scandal after scandal—Fast and Furious, Benghazi, the irs, fbi drone surveillance, illegal Department of Justice and National Security Agency monitoring, to name a few—the administration simply shrugged them off; no high-profile officials were fired; some of them were even promoted.
In none of these areas has the Obama administration acknowledged its failures and corrected its course. Its response has always been to deflect blame and double down on its actions.
Now, in light of tough Democratic election losses, why should anyone think it will be any different?
For six years, this president’s administration, in pushing its agenda, has routinely disregarded constitutional limits on executive powers, ignored laws it doesn’t like, and bypassed Congress. More than with any recent president, the Supreme Court has stepped in to repudiate his actions.
What is the president going to do now that Congress is even more opposed to his agenda? Is he going to suddenly start trying to cooperate?
In the lead-up to the elections, the White House, sensing the impending defeats, said outright what it would do. Politico reported, “Administration officials tell us that Obama’s political and policy teams are planning a big counterattack if the Republicans win the Senate—introducing a slate of legislative proposals and executive actions on immigration, infrastructure and early childhood education that are popular with the Democratic base and that he will dare the gop to oppose.”
During abc’s election coverage Tuesday, White House correspondent Jon Karl reported that administration officials said “no matter how big a shellacking Democrats get tonight,” the president “is prepared to aggressively pursue his agenda using his power of executive authority, where he can’t work with Congress ….” “White House officials are saying that you can expect the president to set an aggressive, and defiant tone tomorrow,” Karl said. “You’re not going to see any mea culpas, no big firings, no change in direction.” Is this a surprise?
About a year ago, the government was in the middle of a shutdown that lasted over two weeks. Congressional Republicans sat down to negotiate a solution with President Obama. Oklahoma Congressman James Lankford told the Trumpet staff he thought the talks looked hopeful, that the two sides appeared close to an agreement. Rumors of a deal emerged, and the stock market responded favorably. However, the next day, immediately after the stock market closed for the holiday weekend, the president’s spokesman gave a press conference. Lankford characterized the spokesman’s remarks as, All deals are off, I’m not going to negotiate on anything. My way or no way at all. Lankford then said, “All of us that were sitting there said, what was that? What just happened?”
This trust-shattering experience didn’t surprise House Republican leader John Boehner at all. “Speaker Boehner has told us over and over again, every negotiation he’s had with the president has been that way,” Lankford said. “He’ll sit down one-on-one and talk through stuff, but within 24 hours, all the rules change ….”
The people who are optimistic, hoping the elections will “begin to save this country,” simply have no evidence to support their confidence. Frankly, they do not know who they are dealing with.
In his press conference Wednesday afternoon, President Obama was polite in acknowledging the Republican victory. But he refused to admit any real need to change what he is doing. And whatever his words, watch what he does. The next two years promise to be bruising politically, and this president—unconcerned about reelection—is certainly not going to put away the executive pen he is increasingly using to sidestep Congress in order to enact his agenda. (If you want a powerful exposé on this administration, download Lawless: Why America Is Losing Its Rule of Law.)
Tough realities, though many people choose to ignore them, have a lot of Americans mired in disillusionment and despair. The more vigilant a person is to what is really happening within this country—geopolitically, economically and morally—the greater his cause for alarm. Still, election cycles have a remarkable tendency to create swells of optimism. Rhetoric fills the air about fixing what’s broke, taking back Washington, sending a message, saving the country. Then, inevitably, the rhetoric is overtaken by reality.
The magic and enchantment that carried the current president to two election victories have largely been overtaken by disappointment. But the hope being invested in the Republican resurgence is just as misplaced. It is just as certain to end in frustration.
As the Prophet Jeremiah once wrote, “Thus saith the Lord; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man.” Yes, cursed.
American is headed in the wrong direction. But Republicans won’t be able to steer it right. The country does need saving. But no politicians will be able to deliver. The nation is being cursed for placing its trust in man.
Jeremiah continued: “Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is.” In whom have you placed your trust?
