Midterm 06: Astrological Post-Mortem

Midterm 06: Astrological Post-Mortem
mumin_bey@yahoo.com

7:57 AM 11/11/2006 Sat

The People have spoken; we must respect their decision; our Democracy has proven itself to work, warts and all, yet again; and the Rule of Law must prevail.

On Tue, Nov 7 2006, the American Electorate registered their dissatisfaction strongly at the polls, sweeping the GOP out of BOTH Houses of Congress, and handing to the Democratic Party a victory not seen since 1994.

The past week has brought with it some interesting results; while the People were unhappy with the GOP, particularly with regard to the War in Iraq, they also voiced strong agreement with general Conservative Principles thru the various Ballot Initiatives around the country. For example, in just about every State where the question of Gay Marriage was put on the ballot, the People responded "NO!", the only exception being Arizona - where there were questions of tampering with that State's Constitution that caused the referendum to be the only stand out to date on the Gay Marriage Debate (and, it must be said, that even in NJ, where Gay Marriage/Civil Unions has been given the green light by that State's Supreme Court, ony 41% of the people polled there supprt CUs, and an even higher percentage say nay on Gay Marriage; will the Garden State GOP push for the People to be able to speak on this issue? Hmm...).

In Michigan, Proposition Number 2, which essentially outlaws ALL forms of Affirmative Action/Quotas based on Gender or Race, was affirmed emphatically by the People. Court challenges have been threatened, but legal pundits suggest that, since this issue has been put directly to the People, there is little that can be done about the result.

In South Dakota, the proposed Abortion Ban was rejected by the People - however, as in the case in Arizona, one needs to take a look at the fine print - because the issue was meant to be a legal challenge to Roe v. Wade; Planned Parenthood was able to force the issue onto the ballot, and the reason why it failed there, according to many legal eagles, is because it didn't allow for life or death scenarios involving the mother.

It's interesting to note that, this week, the US Supreme Court has taken up the issue of Partial Birth Abortion.

In Missouri, where the Stem Cell Research Debate was raging, Claire McCaskill was elected to the US Senate - but the issue itself, which was such a strong part of her platform, was rejected by referendum.

The People have spoken out on the issue of Imminent Domain, following on the heels of the US Supreme Court decision made last year in this regard; the People have overwhelmingly rejected the Court's reasoning.

Put this together with the fact that so many Conservative Democrats have been voted into Office, like Bob Casey Jr and Jon Tester, and one can only conclude that this week's elections have been a strong rebuke of the GOP/Conservatives - but not a repudiation. The Democrats do NOT have a Mandate to implement their ideas, rather, they have the green light from the Public to get some things done, most notably, to get outta Dodge in Iraq.

Last Tue has proven yet again, that what Karl Rove said was correct - that America is essentially a Center-Right country, and ANY political platform from ANY political party that embraces those values will succeed.

Still, for my part, I must concede that my astrological projections for the Midterm 2006 Elections did not go as predicted, not at all. Here's the wrap-up:

Final Pre-Midterm Election Summary
Mu's Picks:

1. GOP narrowly holds on to BOTH Houses of Congress
WRONG: BOTH Houses of Congress taken from the GOP, Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi now becomes Madame Speaker of the House, current Speaker Dennis Hastert has announced that he will step down from BOTH his Speaker and Minority Leader roles

2. Weldon wins
WRONG: Sestak handily wins over Weldon, the final nail in the coffin for Weldon being the FBI investigation into his probable contract steering to his daughter

3. Casey wins
CORRECT: Casey easily wins over Santorum, however, it must be noted that Casey and Santorum share the same views with respect to Social Issues

4. Kean Jr wins
WRONG: Despite the spectre of more scruntiny on account of potential ethics violations, Menendez wins over Kean Jr, must notably because of the issue of Iraq

5. McCaskill wins
CORRECT: McCaskill's win can only be interpreted as the People wanting to punish the GOP, as Talent was new to the Senate and was considered by most in Missouri to be a good politician; not only that, but she must now find a way to finesse the Stem Cell issue, as the People of the Show Me State have rejected her platform via dircet referendum

6. Burns wins
WRONG: Tester narrowly wins over Burns. Iraq and Abramoff did him in. 'Nuff said.

7. Allen wins
WRONG: Webb wins over Allen, and for all the faux-pas statements Allen has made throughout his campaign, his eloquence and grace in defeat sort of redeems him in a way; if only he had done that DURING the campaign, there might have been a different result

8. Corker wins
CORRECT: There can be no doubt that the Playboy Bunny Ad did Ford Jr in; even media pundits reported that right after the ad aired Ford Jr's support began slipping in the polls, never to recover. That is a very sad signal and says that even in our supposedly elightened times, Race still Matters.

9. Steele wins
WRONG: Steele loses to Cardin by ten percentage points, and if you break it down by Race, he loses to Cardin by a slimmer margin. HOWEVER, Steele's campaign, as a Black GOP candidate, is perhaps the most successful to date, and his future is bright in this regard. Already, he's being touted as the next head of the RNC, a most fitting statement, since the GOP is the Party of Lincoln, and it's only right that the Son of Slaves should now lead the Party in a new direction for the 21st Century.

ALSO: I said this back in Sep of this year:
"A final note - at the time of Lieberman's defeat at the hands of his own Party, he had SA Pluto=Saturn, exact Jun 06. Coming up in the Nov elections, Lamont will have transit Saturn, in EXACT CONJUNCTION to his Pluto! Already, his poll numbers look bad, with something like only 38% of the voting public up there in support of him. Look for a Lieberman win in Connecticut, a close one, but a win nonetheless."

CORRECT: Not only did Lieberman beat Lamont, he beat him silly. Keep in mind, that Lieberman was a Man without a Party after the Hardcore Left moved to oust him from the Party over the Iraq War. His reelection proves yet again, that the Dems DO NOT HAVE A MANDATE for their ideas, but rather, the green light from the People to get things moving.

So, to tally up, I got 4 out of 10 right - abyssmal. I'll have to go back to the drawing board to find out where I went wrong in my predictions, and work harder to correct them for next time.

And make no mistake, there WILL be a next time - for the concilliatory tone in DC will only last for a fortnight, so to speak; 08 looms large, and both Parties want in.

But for now, we Conservatives must reflect on the results of the Elections, respect the People's wishes, concede defeat gracefully, clean house, re-affirm our principles, and re-dedicate ourselves to the great work at hand.

We have only just begun to fight.

Salaam,
Mu