Politics News Article | Reuters.com

It will not be an easy task. Defeated in the presidential election, the party that dominated U.S. politics from the 1930s until the 1990s also lost ground in both chambers of Congress and the Republicans retained control of most of the state governorships.

“I think this is a realigning election. The Democrats are going to have to get used to permanent minority status for a generation or two,” said Tom Schaller, a political scientist at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. …

In many ways, the Democrats have become a coalition of minorities — blacks, homosexuals, Jews, the unmarried and the unreligious. Bush’s political strategist Karl Rove characterized the typical Democrat as “somebody with a doctorate … people who imbibed the values of the sixties and seventies and stuck with them.”

Yeah, those crazy sixties ideas like equality, justice, peace, love — what bunch of looney liberals! And, heck, we need to find a way to express ourselves more simply. mjh

TimesDispatch.com | Bush advances his agenda

A day after declaring victory in a hard-fought election, President Bush said at a news conference, “I’ll reach out to everyone who shares our goals,” adding that “I earned capital in this election, and I’m going to spend it.” …

Bush said he felt it was “necessary to move an agenda that I told the American people I would move,” adding: “When you win, there is a feeling that the people have spoken and embraced your point of view.”

Stop the Tape: President Bush Has Learned About The Enemy, Declares: “I Meant What I Said”

See, to them, you have to understand, to many in Washington and the White House press corps, and many in the left in general, you say things to fool people.

You say things to avoid controversy or you say things to actually deceive people. But you never say what you mean. That’s a sign of weakness. That’s giving your intentions away. You don’t do that. You gotta fool people. You gotta lie to ’em. You gotta set ’em up. You gotta deceive ’em, and I think that’s why so many people have trouble understanding Bush.

Democrats must learn from loss By Matthew Miller

There are other lessons. Democrats may simply need to have a governor atop the ticket; a senator may never be marketable as an executive leader. Democrats sure need a good Southerner. But above all, Democrats need ideas.

Think about it. By 2008 we will have had 40 years of GOP presidents broken only by Southern governor Jimmy Carter (a post-Watergate fluke) and Southern governor Bill Clinton (a rare force of nature). During this time American politics have drifted dramatically to the right, to the point where Richard Nixon’s combined plans for universal health coverage and a minimum family income is now far too “liberal” for John Kerry to have supported in 2004.

Showing how progressive goals are consistent with American values, bolstering the party’s security agenda in an age of terror, reframing the language and means with which Democrats propose to solve the problems of ordinary Americans – all this, as with Clinton in 1992, will mean challenging some ancient doctrines and interest groups in order to reach out to more Americans with real answers.

It’s a tall order. And it’s hard to see how the current Democratic establishment – which, after all, has presided over these losses and the rightward drift of the country – is up to the task.

Forty years of Republican presidents and we’re not doing so bad. Much of the world hates us or thinks we’re insane. We’re headed towards bankruptcy. We’re ready to shred the Constitution. There’s a record to run on in 2008! mjh

News > Politics — Faithful say their votes carried day” href=”http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/politics/20041104-9999-1n4faith.html”>SignOnSanDiego.com > News > Politics — Faithful say their votes carried day By Sandi Dolbee, UNION-TRIBUNE RELIGION & ETHICS EDITOR

“This is a great victory,” said Cass, who last summer left his East County church to lead the Center for Reclaiming America, a conservative Christian public activism arm of Coral Ridge Ministries in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

“It really is showing that America is a conservative nation and, unfortunately for those politicians on the other side of those issues, it’s not going to go well for them for a long time,” he said. …

“The religious right is already crowing about providing Bush’s margin of victory,” Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, said in a statement issued yesterday.

“The movement’s leaders expect to be handsomely rewarded for that,” he added, noting that seats on the U.S. Supreme Court are likely to open up during Bush’s second term. “The culture war may go nuclear.”

Social conservatives score victories, plan more impact by Matt Stearns and Charles Homans, Knight Ridder Newspapers

“This country was based on biblical principles,” said Roberta Combs, president of the Christian Coalition of America, applauding what she called the “pro-life, pro-family” Election Day victories. “This is a sign of what America used to be, and that we’re going back to where we were.” …

The U.S. Senate tilted sharply right with the election of several new senators, including

• Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, who has advocated the death penalty for doctors who perform abortions, and

• Jim DeMint of South Carolina, who said pregnant single women should not be allowed to teach in public schools. …

Exit polls indicate that Christian conservatives are a big reason for those wins. About 78 percent of self-described born-again Christians voted for Bush, himself a born-again Christian. A fifth of all voters said moral values were the most important issue in the campaign, and three out of four of those voters went for Bush. …

Look for the judiciary in general and the Supreme Court in particular to be the next battleground where social conservatives flex their muscle, several social conservative leaders said.

“I’ve heard commentators say Bush should pick judges who don’t polarize,” said Jan LaRue, chief counsel of Concerned Women for America. “Nonsense … The president shouldn’t be cutting any deals with Democrats.”

House GOP says the way is paved for Bush agenda=The Hill.com=
Pence: ‘Dems lost their leader. That speaks spades.’
By Jonathan E. Kaplan

House Republican lawmakers, flush with victory, said President Bush’s reelection, combined with their slightly improved margin in the House and a four-seat gain in the Senate, demonstrates public approval of how they have governed the country the past four years.

”It’s an affirmation of the direction we’ve been going,” said Government Reform Committee Chairman Tom Davis (Va.)….

Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.), new chairman of the conservative Republican Study Committee, said: “There’s a mandate for conservative leadership in the outcome of this election. The American people have spoken in deafening terms that they want
Republican leadership in the White House and Capitol Hill.” …

“It is time for the majority to be heard.” He said he hopes Republicans will focus on changing the budget process, reforming Medicare and Social Security, defining marriage as between a man and woman and banning RU-486, a pharmaceutical used to induce an abortion.

I liked someone’s observation that more people voted against Bush than against any candidate before. That won’t even slow down the raging Right. mjh

Latest Business News and Financial Information | Reuters.com

Bush Win Sends Oil Near $51 a Barrel
Wed Nov 3, 2004 03:34 PM ET
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Oil prices surged more than $1 on Wednesday as the re-election of President Bush countered the impact of a big increase in spare oil supplies ahead of winter.

Crude dealers said Bush’s victory over Democrat Senator John Kerry could bolster U.S. fuel demand and underscore anxiety over the security of Middle East oil shipments. …

A second Bush administration will likely continue filling U.S. emergency oil stockpiles despite high prices and could stoke nerves about U.S. policy in the Middle East, particularly OPEC’s second-biggest producer Iran.

“A Bush victory will be big for oil demand and keep prices high,” said Phil Flynn, an analyst at Alaron Trading in Chicago. “Not only will the SPR be filled, but I think they may expand it.”

The Bush White House has said it plans to fill the final 30 million barrels of the 700 million barrel Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) by next year, which adds to already strong demand from end-users.

Prices had tumbled from last week’s record high at $55.67, pressured by speculation that a win for Kerry would halt deliveries into the SPR, and do more to encourage energy conservation.

Dealers had also speculated that Kerry’s policy in the energy-rich Middle East would be less aggressive than Bush’s and more prone to move through diplomatic channels.

“If another Bush government moves on to Iran, then oil prices would go very high and really threaten China’s economic development,” said Andy Xie, Morgan Stanley’s chief Asia economist.