Republican Bob Turner’s win in New York’s 9th Congressional District is a story the Frank Sinatra hit song, New York, New York, was written for. The GOP can now sing this tune about itself, specifically these lines:
If (we) can make it there, (we’ll) make it anywhere
It’s up to you, New York, New York
It was up to New York, and New York delivered big time. Just like Senator Scott Brown’s “unlikely” win in liberal Massachusetts, Turner’s election in a historically Democratic stronghold signals a sea change in politics. If Republicans can win this seat – considered untouchable for 90+ years – then how tough will it be for them to win in places considered toss-ups or GOP-leaning?
Of course, the Democratic Party is in denial, at least publicly. Debbie “Downer” Wasserman-Shultz dismissed any concern about Turner’s win, saying that the 9th District is a difficult district for her party. Really?
Turner’s win, like the rise of the Tea Party and the 2010 Republican election victories, are also rebukes of the mainstream media and nearly every political pundit. Let’s take a walk down memory lane and revisit some of the obituaries written about the GOP a mere three years ago.
Even before the 2008 elections, the media and pundits predicted that an Obama victory meant the death of the GOP. In October of 2008, ABC News penned a story, End of the GOP as We Know It? Maybe, in which is predicted – with giddy excitement — the demise of the Republican Party because of Obama’s sure victory the next month. That same month, Salon carried a lengthy article about the meaning of the upcoming election. Its conclusion was, “An Obama victory could signal a fundamental correction in the course of American politics, one that could last for decades.”
Following Obama’s inauguration, The New York Times wrote of the GOP: “The Republicans haven’t yet figured out how to puncture Obama’s armor or resist his charms.”
Salon was right about a course correction in American politics, but it was not the kind of correction it had in mind. What these media elites and political pundits did not understand (and perhaps still do not) is that the man they pinned such hope on – Barack Obama – is the reason the Democrats are losing. President Obama’s hard left turn for the country: everything from a war on private sector business, to big government programs like mandatory healthcare, to tax hikes and class warfare, awakened a normally passive American people.
Right after Obama won the 2008 election, I privately shared a prediction with my close friends and family. I told them that Obama would be to the country, what a forest fire is to the woods. Forest fires are destructive; they disrupt the lives of the creatures that dwell there, and they leave a mess in their wake. But they also clear out the dead wood and make room for new life to grow. President Obama’s scorched earth approach to everything most Americans hold dear is a raging fire in our nation, and it’s clearing out the dead wood (both political parties), making room for new growth and hope.
Make no mistake. Obama is the reason Bob Turner won in New York. Obama is the reason Scott Brown took Ted Kennedy’s seat (a claim of ownership the left liked to make). Obama is the reason the Tea Party rose up to challenge his big government policies. Obama is the reason the Democrats lost big in 2010. Obama will be the reason why Democrats will lose in 2012.
Follow Mike Angley on Twitter: @MikeAngley and on FaceBook: mike.angley.
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