No President has been so resoundingly rebuked by the American people as was done with the Elections of 2014. The House now has its largest majority in history, and it is Republican. Republicans won control of the Senate. There are Republican governors in most states. On every level, Republicans won a huge victory this year.
President Obama himself said that his policies were on the ballot in every race, and by an overwhelming majority America rejected them. Hope is rising again, and it could carry through the 2016 elections if there is real change.
The Republican Party now has a mandate from the American people. Every poll showed that an overwhelming majority of Americans think that the country is off track, with a large percentage “angry” about it. Now there are two main questions that should be answered very quickly with the seating of the new Congress:
1) Will the Republican leadership lead with the resolution needed to fulfill their mandate?
2) Will President Obama now work with Congress to make the mandated changes or will he become an obstructionist President?
President Clinton accepted his rebuke in the last midterms of his Administration. He worked with the Republican Congress and its “Contract with America.” The result was the balancing of the budget and the paying down of the national debt for the first time in memory. We also had the largest reduction of Americans on welfare, and the foundation was laid for one of the longest and strongest economic expansions in recent times that unfolded during the Bush Administration. This was all Republican led, but Clinton took much of the credit for it because he read the handwriting on the wall and did the smart thing. Because of this, Clinton remains one of our most popular former Presidents, but more importantly, the country benefitted.
Obama has the same choice as Clinton. If he changes and works with Congress, he could leave office far more popular than he is now and continue growing in popularity, potentially becoming a force in American politics for a long time. If he doesn’t get the message and act accordingly, it will get very ugly, and impeachment will not be off the table for the abundance of crimes committed by his Administration.
There is little doubt that the President will come out sounding conciliatory, and maybe even seem humbled by this election. If this is so, let’s pray that it is real. Even so, a major reason for this historic rebuke of a President by the people is that far too often his words have been different from his actions. The American people are obviously not as naïve as we were assumed to be, and we will now require much more than words from him and from the leaders of Congress.
President Obama has been one who seems to equate words as actions. If the White House blames the defeat on bad messaging or poor candidates, we can assume he will become an obstructionist President. This will be bad for America, but even worse for him and the Democratic Party. After the American people have spoken so loudly and clearly, if the President becomes defiant we will likely see the Democratic Party trying to distance itself further from the President. If they do not, they know their thrashing will continue in 2016.
With a President defiant of the obvious will of the people and Democrats becoming more independent, this could very well mean Democrats siding with Republicans to overturn Presidential vetoes. It could also see many Democrats siding with Republicans who are calling for deeper investigations into the long list of potential abuses of power, or worse. Already Democrats are pointing at the White House as the reason for this huge drubbing by the voters. The President’s humility or defiance will tell us a lot about the potential difficulty or ease with which we go into the future leadership of the country.
Some Democrats are also pointing a finger at Hillary Clinton for this resounding defeat. The highly visible candidates she campaigned for were beaten, and some by huge margins. Hillary may have been the biggest casualty of the 2014 Elections.
Learn From History
Recently books were being released about the death of conservatism in America and the demise of the Tea Party Movement. These were obviously premature. However, it would also be premature to believe that liberalism is now dead. The Democratic Party may now be in disarray and its leadership cloudy, but if the Republican Party does not bring real change with this opportunity, then it will not likely get another chance like this one. It too has much at stake.
The Issues
According to the exit polls, the main issues with voters were, in this order:
1) the economy (45%)
2) healthcare (25%)
3) illegal immigration (14%)
4) world affairs (13%)
When asked if they thought the country was going in the right direction, Americans said “NO” by a 2 to 1 margin. Nearly 80% are worried to very worried about the future. Today we should have more hope, and we should be encouraged that the American people are waking up to and rejecting the direction in which the country has been taken.
The Economy
It is perceptive that many are very bothered by the economy while the government is touting recovering economic conditions. There is much that is extremely wrong with our economy and with the numbers the government is putting out about it. The people feel more than the fact that they have not had a pay raise in a long time. There are serious economic tremors that all should be feeling, but many of our leaders seem not to be. That is probably the biggest reason so many are alarmed about the economy.
Healthcare
The Affordable Care Act (AFC) is not affordable. I have about 135 people on staff, and as we have been briefed on the coming requirements of the AFC, we must look at cutting the staff almost in half to be able to afford it. We are not alone, and this is going to hit fast if the new Congress does not deal with this quickly. This is still one of the biggest yokes keeping our economy from taking off as it could.
Illegal Immigration
Illegal immigration could move up this list fast. Dealing with it in a reasonable but effective way may not only be critical to the economy and our way of life, but also our lives. You can believe terrorists are pouring across our porous border every day, and their attacks will not be long delayed. Securing our border is essential for our security and maybe even our continued existence as a free nation. It is that serious. We can expect the realization of this to become apparent soon. Securing the border does not mean ending immigration, but simply controlling who we let in. This must be addressed immediately, or we will pay a terrible price.
World Affairs
Name a single nation with which we have better relations since Obama took office and made Hillary Clinton Secretary of State. Remember the “reset” in our relations with Russia? Remember the Arab Spring? It’s now called ISIS. We could continue, but we don’t have the time or space here.
Resolve With Patience
You can’t turn an aircraft carrier like you can a speedboat. We’ve been turning hard to the left for the last six years, and we won’t get back on course overnight. It is right to have high expectations and to keep our representatives accountable to their promises, but we don’t just need to turn, we need to turn with a clear strategy and wisdom. To jerk too far to the right too fast could lead to other more dangerous problems.
The key words here are “too far” and “too fast.” A turn to the right is certainly mandated, and in order to get back to who we are as Americans, it is necessary. To effectively deal with the threats to our existence that are still gathering against us, it is imperative that we throw off the extreme devotion to political correctness that has blinded us from seeing or confronting some of the biggest threats.
Conclusion
After elections that seemed to go in our favor, Christians and conservatives have often relaxed. Some would just go back to sleep. If that happens now, it can prove fatal. The present momentum is encouraging, but we need more momentum. We need endurance and the wisdom Joshua had after his first defeat.
I said that correctly. After the astonishing victory that Joshua led the people in at Jericho, he led them to another astonishing defeat at the little town of Ai. Even after the sin in the camp was exposed, Joshua could not defeat this little town. When he held the spear out, Israel would prevail, but when he relaxed and drew the spear back, the enemy would prevail. He learned not to draw the spear back until the enemy was totally defeated.
This election was a great victory, but it is just the beginning of getting America back on course. This is no time to let up, and this is no time to become arrogant.