The Folly of Teaching a Political Party a Lesson

Many conservatives openly hoped that the Republicans would lose the elections last week because they (correctly) perceived the party's apostasy from the conservative agenda that put them in power in the first place. Out of control spending and the institution of massive new entitlement programs were not supposed to be the result of Republican control of both the White House and Congress. But that's what we got. So a lot of people either stayed home or voted for the Democrats to "teach them a lesson."

That is utter folly. It won't work. It can't work. And the evidence is already mounting (for those who still need convincing). Rather than taking their time and determining a direction, the remaining Republicans in Congress are rushing to hold new leadership elections, apparently to put the same kind of people who ran the train off the track in the first place. Now President Bush has picked the laughable Mel Martinez to head the RNC. Talk about a sharp stick in the eye to conservatives who care about immigration. And pitching Rumsfeld overboard in the matter he did (for Heaven's sake, if you're going to fire the man, do it in time for it to still matter!), President Bush has showed his willingness to cave to the Dems in a way that bodes ill for the next two years.

I wasn't happy with the lack of output during six years of Republican control. They got so much less done than they should have, and they pushed through a lot of very non-conservative junk. There have been good moments, but on the whole it was a huge missed opportunity. But most of those who remain after Tuesday's massacre haven't learned anything from the loss.

Oh yeah, one more thing. A bunch of people talk like it's automatic that in two years, the GOP will regain control. Don't bet on it.