Election Eve Special Post

Good evening, dear readers.  We have tomorrow a few very interesting races to watch, particularly the New Jersey gubernatorial race and the New York race for their 23rd congressional district.  With a lot of talking heads reporting these races and others being referendums on the Obama administration, I can't help but feel that this is just more of the myopia of which the country has long been conscious but that the established media and political machines refuse to acknowledge.

Don't get me wrong: we here at Mens Dexter want Doug Hoffman to win in New York.  He is not a career politician, but an accountant, and therefore has the potential to be a tremendous asset for the good people in his district.  He had the courage to go against the Republican party, realizing that the horse they were backing was just more of the same, and forsake all the money, endorsements, and support that being a Republican would have meant.  To put it another way, rather than betting black or red, Mr. Hoffman put his chips on double-0, an extremely risky move but with far more potential.  With a win he will (we hope) be not just another Republican statistic, but serve as a wake-up call that it is safe to be truly conservative.  However, as with Obama, I would urge the people of New York's 23rd to watch their man very closely and make sure he does what they're sending him to Washington to do.  Words are cheap, but in Washington they're worth less than the Weimar mark.  It does not matter what he is, it does not matter what he has done, and it does not matter what he says or has said.  Only one thing matters in a political figure, and that is what they do once elected.  If Hoffman is not elected and the Democrat Bill Owens goes to Washington, I hope the good folks of New York get everything  they want in a congressman.

As far as Chris Christie goes, he's said all the right things a Republican is supposed to say: he's all for fiscal responsibility, widespread tax cuts, putting the parent back in education, getting rid of political conflicts of interest and ethics violations, and solar farms.  All this sounds just dandy, but, with no disrespect intended, Mr. Christie, we heard a lot of that from the guy now having his mail sent to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.  People of New Jersey, as with the New York voters, watch your man very, very closely if he wins and remember what he has said in his campaign when he comes a-courtin' again in four years.

The problem I have with the press and the administration is that there are two prevailing schools of thought about the races tomorrow and in my opinion they are both wrong.  First there are those who believe the races tomorrow do not matter, that there are so few that they can't possibly indicate anything meaningful about the country's political leanings.  I'm here saying that if a Republican is getting bounced from a traditionally Republican district and a Republican has a good chance to win in a traditionally Democratic state (New Jersey, of all places), you bet it matters.  I feel that many of the people in this country were very upset with the Republicans and Democrats during the 2008 election, but were willing to give so charismatic a candidate as Barack Obama one last chance.  After all, he promised change and he delivered.  Unfortunately, it is all the wrong kind of change, in all the wrong areas, and almost none of it is progress (I am a fan of increasing benefits for the military).  Now, the people have had it.  No more Democrats and Republicans where the only difference is the side of the aisle they occupy.  They'd rather try a candidate who admits he is polarizing if only he can be trusted to deliver on his words.

The other school of thought is that the campaigns are referendums against the president.  This, too, is wrong, simply because it gives Obama too much credit.  Obama is not special.  He is not unique among presidents in the degree of the difficulties the country is facing under his watch.  Name me any difficulty we are facing right now and I will point to a parallel in history that was worse.  Too much credit, too, is given by people who swear up and down that Barack Obama is ruining the country.  The direction he has taken his administration is insidious, but no more insidious than the actions taken by Woodrow Wilson, Andrew Johnson, and Franklin Roosevelt in their administrations.  Good news, too: it can all be undone.  What we are seeing is indeed a referendum, but not against Obama.  It is a referendum against an elitist Washington mentality that those working inside the Beltway are rulers, not representatives; it is a referendum against a political insider system of favors and special treatment; and finally, it is a referendum against those who put party loyalty before constituents.

So to all of this country's citizens who are voting tomorrow, I hope whoever you put in the various offices does at all times exactly what you, the employers, want.  Remember that accountability does not originate from the demands of elected officials but from the demands of the people.  Watch your men and women very closely.  Good night to all, and good luck.