Two months of harping by Republicans about their win in the elections and whimpering by Democrats like Peter “Chickenhawk Little” Beinart about how Republicans are so big and strong that we should just try to blend in with them so we don’t get beat up at recess, drew me back to some November figures for a blog entry on the effectiveness of the DLC.
One of the “proofs” of the size of the Bush ManDate is the gain Republicans made in Congress; 231 representatives, 55 senators. I didn’t see anyone do the comparison to when the last time a Democratic president had such an overwhelming majority in both houses of Congress.
It was just 12 years ago, when Bill Clinton was first elected. The 103rd Congress came into session in 1993 with 258 Democratic representatives and 57 Democratic senators. Did the Republicans spend a lot of time whining about how maybe they didn’t share the values of America? No, they went on the warpath, led by Newt Gingrich, and two years later they took majorities in both houses.
Just a little perspective.