NY Times reveals that people are unhappy with the GOP victory

Writing in the New York Times, Charles Blow reveals the surprising "news" that the public is not happy with the victory by the Republicans in last week's elections. To put it mildly, Blow is spouting nonsense. One week after the biggest victory by a party in over half a century, Blow is telling us that the public -- who made that victory a reality -- is actually not happy with the result. It makes me wonder if Blow has a condition that let's him use medical marijuana.

Let's look at his evidence. Blow uses results from a new poll compared to esults for similar polls in 1194 and 2006 and announces, "About 60 percent of the respondents thought that the Republicans in 1994 and the Democrats in 2006 would be successful in getting their programs passed into law. This year, just more than 40 percent believed this about the Republicans." Blow thinks this shows that people are unhappy with the Republican victory.

Clearly, Blow is in denial. Americans in 1994 and 2006 knew that the new party had just taken control of BOTH houses of congress. In 2010, the GOP made very big gains in the Senate, but it is still controlled by the Democrats. The Republicans only took the House, and Americans know this. While Blow may not be aware of this, it still requires approval of both houses and the signature of the president before anything becomes law. Thus, it is not surprising that Americans realize that it will be harder for the Republicans to get their programs through without the control of the Senate. Further, in 1994 and 2006, the president was not a rigid ideologue like Obama. Both Clinton and Bush were correctly perceived as likely to negotiate with the new majorities to get passage of laws needed by the country. Today, after watching Obama inflict his various policies on the country despite the damage that they have done to the USA, Americans realize that Obama is unlikely to compromise even if it means inflicting harm on the country. Indeed, any rational person (which apparently leaves out Blow) would understand that the it is much less likely for the 2010 Republicans to get their programs passed when compared to the new majorities elected in 2006 or 1994.

Blow also points to poll results showing that the folks in 1994 and 2006 had a better view of the programs proposed by the 1994 GOP and 2006 Democrats than they have of the current GOP plans. Again, this does not show that the folks are unhappy with the GOP victory. Blow misses the fact that the GOP victory in 2010 was a total rejection of the programs of Obama and the Obamacrats. The widespread revulsion in the American people with the Obama program gave an enormous push towards Republican success. With so many voters coming out to vote against the Democrats, it is not surprising that the numbers who approve of the GOP plans is lower than in the prior years. The voters did not focus on the Republican plans; they were rejecting the nonsense offered by the Democrats. Even Blow himself admits that he does not know "that Republicans had 'policies and plans' for the future." While Blow was surely being facetious, the truth is that the article does much to reveal his refusal to see the obvious.