Election '06 aftermath and what it means for conservatism

By Bonnie Rogoff

I have several questions, so I'll direct them first to the American Civil Liberties Union:

Will the ACLU mount a legal challenge to the defeated South Dakota abortion ban, as they've always done when partial birth abortion bans were passed?

Will they mount legal challenges to the defeated propositions on parental notification in California and Oregon, as always they've done when parental notification laws were passed?

In Missouri, will they mount a legal challenge to the bill that legalized cloning (deceptively presented only as embryonic stem cell research) and demand equal funding for adult stem cell research?

Will they admit possible voter fraud and demand recounts in states where elections were close, as they did in 2000 when all the voting machines and ballots were allegedly rigged?

Will they mount legal challenges to the bans on gay marriage that passed in several states?

Answers: Yes, to challenges on gay marriage, no to all others. The hypocrites in the American Civil Liberties Union are quite selective as to whose liberties they defend.

To the new Republican minority in Congress:

Will you continue to ignore your pro-life conservative base?

Will you continue to concede on domestic issues and those important to the conservative core of the party?

Will you begin to communicate more effectively your policies and ideas to the American people so they won't go to the polls uninformed and angry, or worse, not vote?

To the new Democratic majority in Congress:

Will you acknowledge the fact that yours is a negative victory, that state-by-state results were very tight, and that this is not a voter referendum in favor of a liberal agenda?

Will you admit the election results are a referendum against the way Republicans handled the war and not on conservatism?

Will you admit you have no mandate, and that there was not a decisive win for "choice," despite the fact that it's being presented that way by the media elites?

Will you share power with Republicans by giving them equal seats on important committees, including the Senate judiciary committee, as Senate Majority Leader Senator Trent Lott did for you in 2000?

Election '06 is a referendum against perceived weak leadership in the GOP on Iraq. They should not ask why Democrats won so big, but rather why did we lose? For starts, the GOP should have owned up to their scandals (Dennis Hastert should have stepped down after the Mark Foley scandal). Likewise, had Donald Rumsfeld stepped down before today, things might have worked out differently yesterday.

On the domestic front, the GOP allowed the Democrats to set their liberal agenda, with certain Senators like Ted Kennedy and Charles Schumer getting vicious and ugly in their strategies to achieve their goals. Yet amazingly, the GOP is being chastised by Senate Democrats for not being bi-partisan. When President Bush won in 2000 the Democrats immediately set out to destroy his agenda because he was never elected, the election was "decided." Since then, every idea the President put forth, from "No Child Left Behind" to privatization of Social Security, to closing the borders, defending the Patriot Act and national security, the Democrats created party division. Not the GOP.

The Democrats voted against tax cuts and conducted continuous filibusters against every judge, no matter how highly-qualified the nominee. Now, they have the temerity to say the President and Republicans must work with the new Congress? What have they been doing for the past six years?

Republicans have few options left. They will need to compromise more often on legislation and anger the base, or stand firm, flex their muscles and anger the Democrats. Who is more important? If the GOP couldn't show spine when they were the majority, how can they do it now?

Looking at the election results, conservatives lost in many states. Three disappointing defeats in Pennsylvania, Maryland and Missouri and the defeat of important pro-life representatives such as Rep. Anne Northrup in Kentucky, will prove to be setbacks for pro-life legislation, nationwide.

Planned Parenthood, NARAL, and other pro-abortion groups are hailing this election as a victory to preserve Roe v. Wade and "choice." Not quite. Exit polls indicate Iraq and Congressional scandals as the main reasons for voters' decision to elect Democrats. In states that were very close, Democrats who got elected, including Senator-elect Bob Casey Jr. of Pennsylvania, are pro-life.

Moreover, looking at the various proposals, the defeat of the abortion ban in South Dakota resulted in a 55-45 vote. That means 45% of South Dakotans would ban all abortions except to save the life of the mother. No small number. Had rape and incest been included, the ban would have passed.

Proposition 85 — the parental notification measure — failed in California largely because as Life News reports, "Planned Parenthood spent $3.7 million on an ad that claimed the notification measure provides no options for teenagers who come from abusive home situations and want to have an abortion without their parents' knowledge." The misleading ad omits the fact that there are always judicial overrides when girls come from abusive homes. Mike Byrne of the Yes on 85 campaign states that the misrepresentations of the measure "intended to confuse and deceive California voters into voting no on Proposition 85." Nevertheless, with all the lies the vote was still very close, with 53% voting against the measure and 47% supporting it.

Amendment 2 in Missouri failed because voters were deceived. The Michael J. Fox ad falsely depicted Jim Talent as opposing all stem cell research (he favors adult stem cell research). The ad never revealed the issue was about federal funding, nor did the ad compare the success rate of the different types of research, or disclose the fact that adult stem cell research works whereas embryonic stem cells fail. Finally, the ad omits the cloning aspect of the measure. Voters were duped, and Fox is no pawn in the deception, either. His lack of full disclosure makes him as guilty of omission as the writers of the ad.

Since Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton legalized abortion in 1973, the radical left has only made inroads with their dangerous agenda by using subterfuge and deception to put a pleasant face on evil so voters will comply at the polls. When that is not possible, they intercede with civil lawsuits and filibusters. Most Americans are not even aware of the many women left injured and dead from legal abortions, the protection of child predators by Planned Parenthood, or that babies surviving failed late-term abortions are killed after they are born. It was up to Republicans to communicate effectively, keep to a conservative agenda and expose the truth. They haven't done it. That's why last night happened. That's why we lost the Congress.

Radio talk show host Sean Hannity's analysis of the election is that during the initial phase of gaining control, Democrats may experience some confusion in the transition of power and they will be disconnected for some time. Perhaps, but pit bulls do not roll over and become adorable pups just because they get a Milk Bone. Make no mistake: The Democrat majority will never compromise. Once the committees are reorganized there could be follow-up lawsuits, Congressional inquiries and possible impeachment hearings based upon prewar intelligence, so-called abuses of power, "torture" of prisoners, etc. They talk so boldly about "change," but never about what changes they'll make.

The result? As long as conservatives roll over and remain silent, conservatism will remain neutered, even though America remains conservative.

© Bonnie Rogoff