In 1994, Republicans swept into majority status in the House and the Senate largely on the strength of their ideas. The Contract with America was a detailed and comprehensive plan for governance, and whether you agreed with its contents or not, you had to admit Republicans ran the election the right way: on the issues. 12 years later, the tide has turned. Republicans betrayed the spirit of their plan, trading true concern for ugly power politics and making spiteful partisanship the top priority on Capitol Hill. This election, in which the Democrats retook the House and (as of press time) still have the possibility of gaining the Senate as well, should serve as a lesson that Americans refuse to accept the decline into which the Republican majority has sent the country.
Former House majority leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.)—whose alleged money laundering and ties to crooked lobbyist Jack Abramoff forced him to end his career—captured everything that went wrong in his resignation speech this summer. His ode to party politics included the zinger, “partisanship … is not a symptom of democracy’s weakness but of its health and its strength.” Mr. DeLay, however, confused the brand of partisanship he brought to Congress with real policy debate. The Republican form of partisan politics did nothing but stifle this.
Instead, the GOP went on a reckless campaign of gerrymandering and one-party legislation that nearly destroyed political opposition as we know it. In Texas, for example, when the mandatory redistricting that follows every census failed to yield a Republican-majority delegation in 2000, the State House revisited the boundaries in 2002 upon gaining a majority. Using a sophisticated computer program, they redrew the lines to guarantee the largest possible Republican delegation. This led to the defeat of incumbents such as Georgetown Law alumnus Martin Frost (D-Tex.), who had been in the House for 26 years before he was moved into an unwinnable district.
The situation Republicans set up for themselves led many to believe they would retain control of Congress for decades, causing complacency to set in. When the party began to feel impervious, it then began to feel it could get away with anything it wanted, leading to all kinds of corruption, from the Abramoff scandal to House Speaker Dennis Hastert’s (R-Ill.) alleged cover-up operation for Mark Foley. The fed-up voters have responded accordingly, sending a strong message that corruption, along with poor policy choices such as the war in Iraq, will not be tolerated.
Besides repairing the damage to a fair political process already done, the Democrats must restrain themselves from seeking vengeance or merely playing the same politics game in reverse. If the Democrats attempt the same stunts, we can only hope the voters will again respond appropriately. For now, however, we should hope that a renewed commitment to free and fair democracy will ensue, and that the Tom DeLay brand of partisan bickering ceases to play a dominant role in American politics.
