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It’s going to take some time for the dust to settle on the shellacking the Republican Party took from the Democrats in Tuesday’s general election. As of this writing, the Democrats flipped enough seats in both the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives to seize control of each chamber and the toll, from the GOP perspective, might get even worse in the coming days.
This was a thorough repudiation of President Trump and his policies, from higher prices to the war with Iran to threatening our allies to Trump’s chummy relationships with dictators. The list goes on and on.
Democrats, meanwhile, are talking mandates to do this and to do that and have already started threatening investigations and potential prosecutions. From where we sit, we believe that would be a very bad idea. Here’s why.
Because the nation is starved of national leadership, history and the fates have handed the Democratic Party an opportunity of a lifetime: Start governing with the people of this country first in mind. So much needs to be done and the time to start is now, with the assistance of President Trump AND Republicans.
What about instances of wanton corruption the Democrats might uncover, you ask? We believe those should be investigated and charges authorized, if appropriate. But most of what Democrats say they don’t like about the current regime in Washington isn’t necessarily corruption but incompetence and blind partisanship.
Under any circumstance, the Democrats have their work cut out for them. The Justice Department, once a shinning example of American honor and decency, is a shadow of its former self, fraught with partisanship, cartoonish characters in high places and questionable investigations left and right. Over at the Pentagon, well, there’s much work to be done at the Pentagon. And let’s not forget the Department of Health and Human Services, heretofore the domain of Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the purveyor of public-health conspiracy theories galore.
So the Dems have a lot of work to do in legitimate areas that badly need attention. We expect that. But what we don’t want to see is the government tied up in knots as the sides go after each other, hammer and tong. That gets us nowhere.
It’s time to start putting the people first, on health care, on education, on housing, to name just a few. The Democrats have an opportunity to do just that, if they can find the leadership.
We sincerely hope they do because the future of the country may well hang in the balance.