Blowing my own horn. Again...

In the run-up to the 2006 mid-term election, there were several instances of Republicans and/or conservatives criticizing the Republican majority in Congress, and going so far as to urge a vote against them, so as to "chasten them," the idea being that they'd repent their sins and take back the House in 2008 and operate in a more conservative fashion.

I disagreed.

The "throw the bums out" idea is an idea with significant appeal. But I think that the "teach the Republicans a lesson now and everything will be better when they come back in 2008" is wishful thinking at its most wishful. If I were absolutely convinced that a Democratic takeover in 2006 would inevitably lead to a stronger, chastened and more conservative Republican majority in 2008, I might agree with the "throw the bums out" sentiment. I'm nowhere near that sanguine.

...

I see no particular reason to expect a Democratic takeover, if it occurs, to be a transitory, 2-year event. If the people haven't seen enough from Nancy Pelosi, Howard Dean and the party they lead to recognize their fundamental unseriousness yet, what is the wellspring of the belief that they'll recognize it two years from now?

I'm a voter whose top three concerns at the Federal level are 1) National Defense, 2) Taxes and 3) Judges. There's not one of those concerns that would be better served by a Democratic Congress than a Republican one.

I wonder how those "throw the bums out" 2006 voters feel this morning? I hope that they look at the headlines and, instead of asking how we got here, look in the mirrors.

Look, there were a lot of problems with the Republican Congress from 2000-2006. They fell far, FAR short of what we'd like to see from them. But there isn't a single, solitary aspect of government that has not been worsened by the change. I'm going to link this a dozen times between now and November. I was right.