America is a centrist nation. It some areas it leans center left and in others center right. In strange pockets knitted together by gerrymandering there are instances of far right and far left cults. But these are false images of America – as we just saw in Massachusetts yesterday. America has a comfort zone and it has fringes. For too long the fringes have been pushing us into policy areas we as a people will reject.

I like what Democrat Senator Evan Bayhe said yesterday, before the full extent of the damage the ‘national’ liberals in DC had done in Massachusetts was clear in the results:

Even before the votes are counted, Senator Evan Bayh is warning fellow Democrats that ignoring the lessons of the Massachusetts Senate race will “lead to even further catastrophe” for their party.

“There’s going to be a tendency on the part of our people to be in denial about all this,” Bayh told ABC News, but “if you lose Massachusetts and that’s not a wake-up call, there’s no hope of waking up.”

…

For Senator Bayh the lesson is that the party pushed an agenda that is too far to the left, alienating moderate and independent voters.

“It’s why moderates and independents even in a state as Democratic as Massachusetts just aren’t buying our message,” he said.

Will the mad Dems in DC wake up? Or will they put the peddle to the metal and provide us more historic elections in the fall? It’s their choice and I would be more than happy to see more cleaning house in DC.

It is amazing how many opportunities there now are for ‘Change’. If you go over to Charlie Cook’s state of the senate page he has 12 senate seats listed as toss ups:

1. New Hampshire (R) – open due to Gregg retirement
2. Connectictu (D) – open due to Dodd retirement
3. Massachusetts (D) – enough said
4. Delaware (D) – open due to Biden moving to VP
5. Illinois (D) – open due to Obama moving to POTUS
6. Pennsylvania (D) – Arlen Specter
7. Ohio (R) – open due to Voinovich retirement
8. Kentucky (R) – open due to Bunning retirement
9. Missouri (R) – open due to Bond retirement
10. Arkansas (D) – Blanche Lincoln
11. Colorado (D) – Michael Bennet
12. Nevada (D) – Sen Leader Harry Reid.

And that is not all. One of the most interesting polls to come out last week was a Rasmussen poll showing CA Sen Barbara Boxer (D) in trouble in her race (which Cook has as a ‘leans’ Dem right now). In a couple of match ups Boxer is in a statistical tie. More importantly, she is now well below 50%. She should be in the toss up list.

Boxer’s CA is an economic basket case. It has all the makings of another perfect storm of local frustration combined with national frustration – and an independent minded electorate which had been in the Democrats’ fold, but is also known to have elected some damn famous Republicans (Nixon, Reagan).

I personally think the CA seat is in a lot of trouble for Dems. The unemployment in that state is horrific. And to make matters worse, DC has dictated an entire farming community be destroyed because of some small irrelevant fish. I am all for bio diversity, but a rare species which cannot genetically mix or survive is not worth the lives of thousands of people thrown out of work.

Cook lists one other ‘lean’ race in Louisiana. But if Rasmussen’s poll there is accurate that rising tide of anger that just washed over Massachusetts has lifted Senator Vitter to safer, higher ground.

That means the Dems are at risk of losing 9 Senate seats if they do not wake up, and that would put the GOP within one Independent Senator of taking the Senate back.

As for the House I expect to see a wave of retirements, since Rasmussen’s measurement of the wave there is already enough to drown pink, purple and light blue distracts alike (+8% GOP).

The GOP could blow this opportunity by going back to what got the ousted in 2006 and 2008. Every one of the winners in 2009/2010 for the GOP have been moderate conservatives. The one attempt in NY-23 to push too far in the opposite direction was a disaster.

Independents decide elections folks, and they rose up in anger in Massachusetts. It is never a good idea to insult them and brow beat them and then expect them to vote for you. Everyone who wants to join in a winning, governing coalition needs to check their attitude in the dust bin. No more “RINO” or any other derisive comments about people who disagree with you. No more flaming moderates like Charles Johnson (because he is a reminder of the vile that can be directed at any American by zealots run amok). Try to stay classy and respectful. If you fail to sell your point of view, that is not the fault of others.

No one is going to be impressed by someone who claims to believe in America and its Constitution, but insults and derides others for speaking their views openly – as is our right in America under our constitution. Clinton and his crude, rude duds (yes, that spelling is deliberate – and I am speaking of Begala and Carville) brought crass, trash-talk to the honorable debate of politics. That was yesterday and needs to be fixed. Trash talk is an insult to the voters one way or the other.

We need people like Brown, Cristie and McDonnell who speak positively and with respect to lead this nation forward. Leave the trash talkers to MSNBC and the failed liberals – that’s THEIR speed. Not America’s.

Tags: 2010 Elections, Senate