11-03-2004, 11:42 AM
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#1 (permalink)
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Devoted
Donor
Location: New England
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I was hoping for a gracious win...
...but this gloating is not a good start.
link
Quote:
Republican Congress Set to Push Bush Agenda
By Thomas Ferraro
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republicans, having expanded their control of Congress, were positioned on Wednesday to provide greater help to President Bush to push a stepped-up conservative agenda in his second term.
The Republican president has sought to extend tax cuts, promote pro-business policies and appoint anti-abortion judges and he may make another attempt to secure a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriages.
"With a bigger majority, we can do even more exciting things," House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, a Texas Republican, told a local television station in his state.
Television network projections showed Republicans would hold at least 54 of the 100 Senate seats, three more than they now have, and a slim majority of the 435-member House in the new 109th Congress, set to convene on Jan. 3.
In Tuesday's election, Democrat Tom Daschle, deemed by Republicans as "the chief obstructionist" to Bush's agenda, became the first Senate leader in a half century to be voted out of office.
Daschle lost to former Republican U.S. Rep. John Thune, who had come within 524 votes in 2002 of unseating the other senator in the Republican-leaning state, Democrat Tim Johnson.
"One of the themes of my campaign ... was that we need to get the Senate functioning and working again." Thune told "Fox TV," adding, "Right now, there is too much partisanship."
Yet there is certain to be plenty of more partisanship on Capitol Hill next year given the harsh tone of the congressional and presidential races.
Early on Wednesday, Democrat Betty Castor conceded defeat to Republican Mel Martinez in the Senate race in Florida, and Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski appeared likely to beat former Democratic Gov. Tony Knowles in Alaska.
"MONUMENTAL" VICTORY
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said it looked likely Republicans would have a total of 55 Senate seats, and add at least three seats in the House, which would raise their total there to 230.
"It really is monumental. Nobody expected that. It is huge," Frist told CNN, describing the election results as "a huge endorsement of the president of the United States."
However, Republicans will not have the 60 senators that are needed to end Democratic procedural hurdles against what critics have called "extreme" initiatives or nominees.
All the House seats were up for re-election along with 34 Senate seats. But only nine of the Senate races -- in South Dakota, South Carolina, Oklahoma, Alaska, Colorado, Florida, Louisiana, North Carolina, and Kentucky -- and about 30 of the House races were seen as competitive.
Republicans picked up previously Democratic-held Senate seats in South Dakota, South Carolina, North Carolina and Louisiana and Florida, swapped a pair of other Senate seats with Democrats in Illinois and Georgia and held hotly contested Republican Senate seats in Oklahoma and Kentucky. Democrats won a previously Republican-held Senate seat in Colorado.
In many cases, Republicans enjoyed the advantages of incumbency in fund-raising and name recognition. They also got a break in the Senate races since many of the close contests were in largely conservative states where Bush ran well.
House Republicans benefited from a congressional redistricting plan that they pushed through Texas. It helped them protect their majority and defeat a few veteran House Democrats, including Martin Frost and Charles Stenholm.
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I'm a big fan of a divided government. I prefer that legislation that is passed goes through a process of compromise between liberal and conservative sides. Instead, it looks like the compromise will be between conservative and more conservative. And I really dislike the "chief obstructionist" label.
Will the next four years be a conservative revolution? Is there anything left standing in its way? |
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