Other Columns by Horace Cooper
Horace Cooper Bio

Printer-Friendly Version

Ever the optimists, Democrats remain convinced that they are riding a wave to victory in November. If Tuesday's California special election results mean anything then the wails and screams that ultimately come in the wake of any so called November tsunami are more likely to come from the Capitol Hill offices of Nancy Pelosi and Rahm Emmanuel than they are from the Republican leadership.

Even after Francine Busby's loss to Congressman-elect Brian Bilbray in California's 50th Congressional District the so-called election experts are spinning wildly to proclaim what an achievement it was to have come so close. But close doesn't matter. To quote Vin Diesel's character in the movie The Fast and the Furious, "Ask any racer, any real racer. It doesn't matter if you win by an inch or a mile; winning's winning." At the end of the day control of Congress will be decided, not by how close the elections are, but by how many seats are actually won. In contrast in 2004 Republicans exhibited an audacious power-play by re-electing every single incumbent in Congress. What statement are Democrats expressing with this pattern of consistently coming up short in clutch races?

Not withstanding the losses, Democrats say they still expect the political equivalent of a "rogue wave" to overthrow the Republicans and install their party in power. Once dismissed as a nautical myth, oceanographers now claim that freakish or "rogue waves" can rise as tall as ten-story apartment buildings in the midst of otherwise calm ocean settings. In many instances these freaks of nature are able to destroy even the sturdiest of ships. Democrats would have us believe that this phenomena is happening in the political arena and that come this November Republican majorities in the House and Senate will be washed out.

But there's little hard evidence to prove it. While rogue waves in the ocean can be tracked by geostationary satellites orbiting the globe, where is the evidence of a subterranean storm of apocalyptic strength brewing in the political arena? In fact doesn't the latest setback demonstrate just the opposite? Not if you're a true believer. Proving Dick Armey's axiom that "Conservatives believe it when they see it, and Liberals believe it when they believe it" Democrats and their amen choir in the mainstream media are absolutely positive that despite this latest loss, a cataclysmic victory await them in November.

In their explanation, nearly winning in the very seat where the former incumbent is the actual convicted criminal -- Duke Cunningham -- is the proof of actual wins in the future of seats elsewhere. Just last week, former House Democratic Whip Tony Coelho crowed, "This is a psychological race. If the Democrats won it's a foregone conclusion" of a House takeover in November. He added, however, "If they lose closely, it will continue the paranoia among Republicans to separate themselves from President Bush." Salon magazine contributor James Verini boasts, "If a liberal women's studies professor can win a congressional seat in this conservative bastion, November could be a GOP nightmare." Not to be undone Gary Jacobson, political scientist at the University of California, San Diego predicted, "If Republicans lose a district that is this Republican, they ought to be real worried," And even the candidate has bought into the hype. In an interview in the closing days of the race, Francine Busby exclaimed, "If I get close, then we've made the point that this is no longer a safe seat." Hype or no, a loss is still a loss.

>> Continued -- Page 1 2 3