Hooray! We Won... Now What?

If you have read much of what I have to say here, you will not be surprised to know I am elated with the results of the 2014 mid-term elections. It would seem that maybe (but just "maybe") the electorate has realized the error of hoping for "hope and change" Obama-style. But I am not overly optimistic: the new legislative leadership under McConnell and Boehner is not going to be able to transform our government quickly or easily. Much of what disturbs conservatives is entrenched bureaucracy (think IRS targeting conservatives), judicial over-reach (think Ninth Circuit overturning a vote of the people) or executive hubris (think Obama's threats to use executive orders to steamroll his policies into practice).

I still believe what I said back in August of 2012: Obama is not the problem. It may be that all we saw last Tuesday was the populace saying they want a better, stronger, more effective form of socialism. That may sound like a terribly pessimistic and warped conclusion, but voter turn-out statistics may support it. Because of the pathetically low rate of participation, a small minority of the electorate made Tuesday's choices. (More on that in the conclusion.) US News reports that disenchanted Democrats stayed home while energized Republicans voted.

This could mean that a majority of the voters still want the "free" hand-outs of a socialistic government, but they are fed up with Obama's failure to get it done.

Then there are those other nasty realities that the new Republican leadership must face. The behemoth that is the Federal bureaucracy did not go away with Tuesday's vote. Millions of worker bees with billions of dollars in their budgets are still fully empowered to continue to implement bad policy both new and old. Combine this with the President's clear intention (threat) to use (abuse) his pen to make law by executive order despite anything Congress might say or do. Those orders can be undone by the next President only if he or she is of a different stripe. (More on that later, too.) Finally, the third branch of government tilts leftward far enough use judicial fiat to bring into practice countless things the voters openly eschew.

Each of these gloomy predicaments has a positive resolution, but it did not resolve on Tuesday; it may not even be in the works. McConnell and Boehner have not enthusiastically supported the conservative wing of their party; both in fact have at times worked around or against them. According a New York Times story last March, “I think we are going to crush them [Tea Party candidates] everywhere,” Mr. McConnell, the Senate Republican leader, said in an interview, referring to the network of activist organizations working against him." This does not bode well for those of us with Tea Party type imaginations.

As for the gargantuan bureaucracy, dismantling it will take years of concentrated legislative effort. The first step requires a will to begin; I'm not sure the crop of politicians we elected Tuesday are up for that. Some doubtless are, and they have proven their mettle (Scott Walker in Wisconsin). Others are too afraid of disappointing the forty-plus percent of Americans who are beneficiaries of government programs to even talk about shrinking, let alone ending them.

Lastly, the judiciary is supposedly insulated from the partisanship of electoral cycles, but history proves that to be a thin protection. Every administration since George Washington has tried to put its favorites on the benches of the federal court system. The Washington Post reported last June that there were 57 judicial nominees awaiting approval. The Senate is not supposed to consider partisan bias in their role of "advise and consent" to the President's nominees, yet both parties have tried to block candidates of whom they disapprove (eg. Robert Bork).

So where is "heaven" in all this (WHAMM)? Tuesday did not even come close to winning the war against conservative ideas in this country. A major skirmish went our way, but the battle rages on. Any Christian who could have voted but did not vote last Tuesday should be ashamed. The Epistle of James says, "If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn't do it, it is sin for them." Believers have a responsibility to take part in the process that allows them to make choices about who governs.

Voting is a major part of that responsibility, but it does not stop there. Remaining educated about the issues is critical. The founders realized that the experiment in representative Constitutional government they began would only work if the electorate remained informed. Jefferson believed that even democracy could devolve into tyranny if people were not properly educated. It is also important to continue to support and advise those who represent us after we elect them. There really is a feedback loop that affects how legislators think about the bills they support. According to Tim Hysom of the Congressional Management Foundation, "Members listen to the views of their constituents through all kinds of means…. They take all that information … and they craft their views and policies.

So while Tuesday's election results are a step in a positive direction for conservatives, the road back to a conservative America is long and it stretches uphill all the way. Human nature being what it is, people will always want something for nothing. And since being ignorant is easier than being educated, vast numbers of voters will make bad decisions. Believers must not grow weary in the march toward the next presidential election (although it sure is a relief to be without the political ads for a while). Keep up the conversation with friends, neighbors and, yes, your elected representatives.. Believers seldom fall prey to "sympathy for the devil," but sadly many are guilty of apathy toward his schemes; the end of either is the same. It would be a shame if we lose our freedoms because of our own apathy.