Rejecting Socialism – What We Learned from the Mid-term Elections
Tuesday, November 2, saw a political tsunami wash across the America nation. It’s biggest waves were felt in the American heart-land and southern states, but much of the surging tide reached New England and parts of the West.
Let’s thank our gracious God who heard our prayers. Credit a spirited Tea Party movement that renewed a sizable portion of the Republican Party. Credit also the average American citizen who got involved in the political process because they knew the future of America was at stake.
What was the thunderous message?
We reject socialism.
We want to remain America-the land of the free.
I’d like to highlight ten lessons that we’ve learned from the 2010 Mid-term elections. First, let’s survey the changed political landscape through the eyes of individuals or groups that played a leading role in the political tsunami.
One of the most pro-active faith & family groups in the United States is the Family Research Council led by Tony Perkins and headquartered in Washington, D.C. Their extensive “bus tour” of Iowa during the month of October was probably the single largest reason that three notorious, incumbent, activist judges were defeated in that state. 155 out of 182 of FRC’s backed candidates won. If you don’t receive FRC’s daily “Washington Update” alert, you can sign up for it here.
Tony Perkin’s take on the historic mid-terms:
“On November 2, 2010, the Republican Party made its largest single day gains in the House of Representatives since 1948 and, I have been told credibly, the largest gains of any political party in local, state, and federal races combined in more than 100 years.”
“The last time the GOP controlled this many state legislatures, the year was 1928–and the only thing flying higher than the Republican Party was Amelia Earhart. Call it a tsunami, a bloodbath, a good-old fashioned spanking, but any way you slice it, Tuesday was a population explosion for conservatives via the Republican Party. In state legislatures alone, Republicans picked up 680 seats, the highest gains for one political party in two centuries. Sixteen states are now completely controlled by the GOP, meaning that it dominates the Governor’s offices and both chambers (with the exception of Nebraska, which only has one chamber to begin with).”
“Democrats have coughed up 19 chambers to conservative Republicans. The takeover was so complete that the GOP even snagged Minnesota. Talk about a conservative drought in the state of 10,000 lakes. This was the first time in U.S. history that Minnesota’s chambers flipped Republican. And while Americans didn’t have the option of electing a new president, they did manage to choose seven chief executives, as the GOP stormed to power in a majority of governorships, bringing the grand total to at least 31.”
Erick Erickson’s Redstate.com put the political landslide in these terms:
“Nineteen state legislative bodies ultimately flipped to the GOP. Of the 18 states that will gain or lose seats in Congress for the next decade, the GOP controls 12 of the 18 Governor’s Mansions. The Democrats have been wiped out except among coastal elites and majority-minority districts. The GOP, long said to not be able to make inroads in New England, now controls the Maine Governor’s Mansion, the Maine legislature, the New Hampshire Legislature, a New Hampshire Senate seat, and several congressional seats.”
I recently read one of Newt Gingrich’s novels on America history. To Try Men’s Souls is a gripping treatise on the turning point battle of the Revolutionary War–Washington crossing the Delaware at night and surprising and routing the Hessian mercenaries at Trenton. It was courage and conviction that won that battle. Here’s how the former Speaker of the House describes the mid-term wins:
“Congress wasn’t the only thing Republicans gained in last night’s election. The Republican State Leadership Committee reports that the GOP also took control of nineteen state legislative chambers with the election of over 500 new Republicans to state houses across the country – the largest GOP gain in state house seats in history. The GOP will control the Minnesota Senate for the first time in the state’s history and the Republican Party will hold majorities in the Alabama and North Carolina legislative chambers for the first time since the 1800s.”
“Republican gains were particularly strong in the south where the GOP now controls 18 of the 28 legislative chambers and a majority of all southern legislative seats for the first time since Reconstruction. At the same time, Republican Gubernatorial challengers earned victories in ten states, including the key swing states of Ohio, Florida, and Iowa that play such an important role in presidential elections.The GOP now controls 54 out of 99 statehouses–and it could go as high as 59.”
Another organization I highly respect and encourage you to join is the Heritage Foundation. They possess some of the clearest thinkers in America today. Their Morning Bell daily blog gives pertinent facts each day on the issues facing our nation. You can sign up for it here.
Heritage gives some wise advice for our newly elected leaders:
“If Republicans are smart, they’ll see these victories–not as an endorsement of their leadership, but a repudiation of Obama’s. At its core, this is a center-right country where things like “hope” and “change” are still measured against our greatest ideals. It’s still a place where freedom matters more than “progress.” Where faith is fought for, not against. And where standing for life means not standing alone.”
“Voters are looking to the GOP to take us–not down the path of least resistance–but the road less traveled. But let’s be clear, now we must all get to work. The new Congress has a choice: answer the call of renewal or betray the hopes of the American people.”
So what did we learn from the 2010 mid-term elections? Here are my top ten:
1. The Biggest National Loser – President Barack Obama, whose policies and national priorities went down in flames. Defeat was not a communication problem, the stupidity of the voters, or just a bad economy. President Obama’s socialistic policies were repudiated. And though the president campaigned for thirty different candidates around the nation, less than 10% of them won =.100. That’s a lot of strike-outs.
2. Biggest Question going forward: Will Barack Obama pivot and move toward the wishes of the America people as Bill Clinton did in 1994? Early signs appears to be no. Obama is an ideologue who cares less about popularity and more about taking the US in a social democracy direction. He’s not going to change course–and will probably be defeated in 2012 due to his stubbornness. Jay Leno put it this way: “Americans thought they were voting against George’s Bush’s third term by rejecting John McCain. Instead, they were voting for Jimmy Carter’s second term in Barack Obama.”
3. Biggest State Winner – Ohio–with a new Republican governor, a GOP-controlled House, a new US senator, and come January, many other statewide offices will be a sea of red. John Kasich took the governorship away from Ted Strickland. The GOP also won: secretary of state, state auditor, attorney general, and state treasurer. Leadership also changed hands in the Ohio House of Representatives. Republicans picked up a dozen seats to give them the majority in the House. They also managed to extend their already-strong Senate majority. On the national level, Rob Portman comfortably beat Lieutenant Governor Lee Fisher to capture a seat in the U.S. Senate.
Guess which state is the pivotal state in presidential elections (i.e. 2012)? Ohio.
3. Biggest State Loser – California. It’s hard to fathom that the nation’s largest state elected as governor, for the second time, the man who helped create their 100 billion dollar pension problems in the first place (Jerry Brown). They also re-elected Barbara Boxer over successful entrepreneur and executive Carly Fiorina. What are they smoking out there? It must be a stupifying mix of Hollywood values, union control, and illegal (entitlement) voters. For the first time in fifty years, California is losing people and businesses–with a corresponding loss of congressional seats. California is in deep trouble–and desperately needs a heaven-sent revival.
4. Biggest National Winner – Sarah Palin – she won 66% of her House race endorsements and 60% of her Senate endorsements giving her a combined batting average of .630. And most of those picks were challengers, not incumbents. Quite a feat. Maybe those Mama Grizzlies do understand the issues that most Americans care about.
5. Second Biggest National Winner – Conservatives. Conservatism is the political expression of Christian ideals (faith, family, freedom, work, justice, responsibility, accountability, compassion, etc.) A new generation of conservative leaders are emerging in the United States. Keep your eyes on and focus your prayers on numerous conservative governors or former governors such at Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee, Sarah Palin, John Kasich, Haley Barber, Nicky Haley, Tim Pawlenty, Mitch Daniels, Bobby Jindal, Rick Perry, Chris Christie, and Bob O’Donnell. They are the future. Also rising Congressional stars such as Michelle Bachmann, Mark Rubio and Rand Paul.
6. Third Biggest National Winner – The Grand Old Party. They re-took the US House of Representatives by historic margins (could be as high as 66 seats), added at least six seats to the US Senate, and gained 680 state legislative positions nationwide. Even more importantly, the Republican Party will also control re-apportionment (re-districting) for the next twelve years. That fact alone will re-shape American politics. Let’s hope they understand why they’ve been “re-hired.”
7. A Providential Loss? – Harry Reid’s win in Nevada. This can probably be attributed to a weak Republican challenger, tons of money, and a great ground game. Still, I’m stunned that Senate Majority leader Harry Reid could be re-elected in a state with 14% unemployment – and it’s his Big Goverment, anti-business policies and that are prolonging it. However, here’s what’s interesting. If Harry Reid had lost, and the Republicans taken over the Senate, that would have made 2012 a much easier year for Barack Obama. He could blame many things on a Republican-controlled Congress. Now he can’t. Harry Reid’s still in control. This might prove extremely providential for the 2012 election
8. The Blessing of Gridlock – If a car enters a freeway going the wrong way, the best thing that can happen is for traffic gridlock to be occurring to slow down and stop its destructive path. Don’t buy the lie that “gridlock” is now bad for America for the next two years. No, it’s extremely good. The speeding socialist jalopy will be limited by the traffic jam until the right direction can be re-established in 2012. Praise God for gridlock. It will save many lives.
9. The Danger of Compromise – The losing side desperatelywants to keep America on the socialist path. Their new strategy is to encourage our leaders to compromise and join them in re-shaping America. Pray that our new senators and representatives will not budge an inch. Freedom won. Socialism lost. Bi-partisanship is negative if it doesn’t include right principles and policies. In politics and in life you compromise on minor items, never major ones. For example: On keeping tax rates where they are for all income groups, we must not compromise. We are already over-taxed. The problem is spending. We can compromise with the president on minor details. But not on the principle of over taxation–especially during a recession. Memo to our newly elected leaders: Stick to the principles for which the American people sent you into office.
10. Biggest Ultimate Winner – Freedom and the American people.
In historic fashion, we prayed, gave, voted, and worked for positive political change in 2010. God honored our faith and action. But this is only one victory in a much bigger war.
The American people rose up and rejected socialism in 2010. We must continue the march of freedom through 2012 and beyond.
“In God We Trust.”
America: You Must Be Born Again
By the end of tonight we will know how deep a political stirring is taking place in America. The 2010 mid-term election results will indicate whether a spark of freedom has once again been ignited to light the way forward, or whether we will continue down the road of national decline or suicide.
There is one deep desire within my heart for my nation.
America: You must be born again.
Jesus used that phrase when talking to a religious leader named Nicodemus. Here’s the encounter as recorded in John 3:1-8:
“Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council. He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him.”
“In reply Jesus declared, ‘I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.'”
“‘How can a man be born when he is old?'” Nicodemus asked. “‘Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb to be born!'”
“Jesus answered, ‘I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.'”
Born again. What a wonderful concept. The context here is, of course, an individual being “born again”–making a fresh start in life. Jesus says that there is physical birth (he uses the metaphor of “water” signifying life’s essential ingredient) and there is spiritual birth. Spiritual birth means a change of heart and mind in the life of an individual. You’re been thinking and living in one direction, and you decide to start over and go another route.
Personally, I was physically born in 1953. I was spiritually born again in 1968 when I realized I’d been living for myself and needed to submit my entire life to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. His love drew me, he forgave my sins, and changed my inner being to live for his kingdom.
America was born as a nation in 1776 following a great spiritual awakening and a war against tyranny.
In this early part of the 21st century, America needs to be spiritually born again.
Four things are essential to our nation’s turn-around. They are crucial activities that must take place in order to “start over” with God. We must:
Repent – of our personal and national sins. Conservative tend to overlook this vital step and liberals don’t understand it. But it’s always been a part of our American Christian DNA–when we’re wrong, we need to admit it to God, ourselves,and others and turn away from it. In the First Great Awakening that led to America’s initial birth as a nation, it is estimated that 50,000 people out of a total population of 250,000 confessed their sins to God and changed the way they were living. That’s 20% of the population changing their hearts and lives.
With a population of 310 million people living in the United States today, that translates to over 62 million people needing to repent of their sins. 124 million regularly attend church services. Of course, only God knows what is required to see his hand of blessing restored to this nation. What we do know is that scores of millions of Americans need to “humble themselves and pray and seek his face and turn from their wicked ways ” (2 Chronicles 7:14).
Then there is the national repentance aspect. We have killed fifty million fellow Americans since legalizing abortion in 1972; We have poisoned our homes and air waves with sexual lewdness; We have destroyed the institution of marriage through divorce and now are experimenting with its re-definition; We have not cared for the poor and disadvantaged among us; We have lived for “things” and not for God and others; We have piled up massive debts and lived beyond our means; We have not protected our borders; And we have not reached out with compassion to the foreigners among us.
There need to be “solemn assemblies” in churches and city halls all across this land where we corporately ask God’s forgiveness for our many national sins. Without confession there is no grace. Without changed hearts and lives, there is no redemptive future.
Believe – re-establish our faith in God. This was the primary focus of the Restoring Honor rally held at the Lincoln Memorial on August 28. Glenn Beck and many others encouraged the 500,000 people in attendance to return to a basic faith and trust in God.
This is one of the unique tenets of the America experience: faith in God. “In God We Trust” is on our bills, and for generations it was in the hearts of most Americans. There have always been atheists among us. But they were the minority, and our religious tolerance allowed them to enjoy the blessings of a faith-based nation.
But non-believers were never the secret to America’s greatness. That was found in the hearts of fathers, mothers, youth and children, who put their trust in God and lived out his principles in their homes, factories, schools, neighborhoods and statehouses. America is a faith-based nation that can aspire toward limited government and vast human liberty through the self-control that comes from reverence for God. Americans are not superior to other nationalities. What makes this nation exceptional is our faith in God and the fruits of liberty it produces.
America–without faith–is not America. We need a re-birth of personal and corporate faith.
Reject tyranny –Humble hearts and renewed trust in God must lead to a rejection of socialist-statist policies which amount to tyranny. The 2010 mid-term elections are a wake-up call to reject the creeping forms of tyrannical rule.
William Penn, the founder of Pennsylvania, famously said that “Men must be governed by God or they will be ruled by tyrants.” That is the choice that America faces in this century. If we are not “reborn” to our faith in God, then the noose of government tyranny will grow tighter and tighter.
Rejecting tyranny has practical ramifications. We must repeal the national healthcare takeover, get the goverment out of the realm of business and commerce, keep the tax cuts in place (even drop rates further to create jobs), abolish the IRS (how about a just and fair flat tax?), reform our out-of-control entitlement programs (do we really want French-style rioting in the streets?), and keep electing leaders who will listen to the people and protect their Constitutional rights.
And finally, we must:
Love liberty– and fight for its renewal in our individual hearts, families, cities, and nation. Thank God for those in our military who are fighting for us all over the world. We need to join them on our own soil with the same commitment and discipline. Patrick Henry’s cry needs to become the vision of every American: “Give me liberty or give me death!”
If a significant portion of Americans repent of their sins, restore their faith in God, reject the tyranny around them, and live to advance liberty, then a new dawn will rise in our national history.
America: You can, and you must be born again.
Paychecks or Food Stamps?
Newt Gingrich continues to earn my respect and trust. He’s made some mistakes in his long political career, but at this stage in this life, he is one of the clearest voices for a return to faith, family, and freedom that exists in America.
I don’t generally think in terms or political parties, or “left” and “right.” I think terms of right and wrong, and in the coming elections it is the Republicans who have it right.
This insightful column puts the November 2 election in simple and stark terms. Though flawed and badly wounded by years of poor national stewardship, the Republican Party is being re-born through the Tea Party Movement and is returning to its Judeo-Christian principles of limited government and biblical principles of liberty. On the other side, the Democratic Party continues to lurch down the road toward socialism and moral confusion.
Newt Gingrich believes that the contrast couldn’t be clearer in 2010.
One party believes in paychecks and the other in food stamps.
What kind of America do you want? Your vote, one week from today, will take us one direction or the other.
Vote for liberty, paychecks, and the human dignity that they bring. RB
October 13, 2010
The Food Stamp Party “Doth Protest too Much”
by Newt Gingrich
There is a famous line from Hamlet: “The lady doth protest too much, methinks.”
In Shakespeare’s play, Queen Gertrude is referring to what she believes are overwrought vows from a Queen pledging fidelity to her King.
In modern times, the phrase has come to signify the tendency of a guilty party to so passionately insist on their innocence that they suggest their guilt.
Last week, we highlighted a memo I sent to candidates across the country suggesting the closing argument for the 2010 campaign be a choice between the Democratic Party of food stamps and the Republican Party of paychecks.
Watching Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other Democrats’ reaction to that memo, one couldn’t help but think “the lady doth protest too much.”
More food stamps or more paychecks? The choice for America November 2nd
The difference between the record of the Nancy Pelosi Democrats since they assumed control of Congress in 2007 and the last time Republicans took control of Congress in 1995 could not be starker.
From 1995-1999, when I was Speaker, unemployment fell from 5.6% to 4.2% and food stamp usage dropped by almost 9 million to an enrollment of a little more than 18 million Americans. That’s because we pursued a job-creating agenda of controlling spending, cutting taxes, reforming government and balancing the budget.
Compare this to the record of Speaker Pelosi, who since 2007 has presided over a rise in unemployment from 4.6% to 9.6% and an increase in the number of food stamp recipients from 26.5 million to a record 41.8 million–more than one in eight Americans.
That’s an additional 15 million Americans depending on government for nutrition, thanks to the Democrats’ job-killing agenda of higher taxes, bigger government, and more spending.
This record legitimately makes the Democrats the party of food stamps.
Meanwhile, Republicans have outlined a pro-growth, less spending, low tax, reform agenda for government similar to our program from 1995 to 1999 that resulted in less Americans on food stamps and more Americans receiving paychecks.
This legitimately makes the Republicans the party of paychecks. The food stamp party doth protest too much
Faced with the crippling reality of her record, Speaker Pelosi and the rest of the food stamp party have reacted to this accurate contrast in a way Queen Gertrude would find familiar.
Last week, Speaker Pelosi again made the absurd claim that food stamps and unemployment insurance are the best way to create jobs, rather than serve as a safety net for those who have lost their jobs. In addition, Speaker Pelosi hysterically accused me of trying to “stomp on the poor.”
Speaker Pelosi and the rest of the food stamp party are desperately trying to spin the accurate and devastating contrast between the Democratic Party of food stamps and the Republican Party of paychecks as a threat to take food stamps away from the poor and unemployed who need them.
But they ignore the actual historic record that repudiates their baseless attack. During my tenure as Speaker, we didn’t eliminate the food stamp program; we were, however, able to reduce the number of people receiving food stamps by pursuing paycheck policies instead of food stamp policies. Millions of poor and unemployed people went off food stamps as they took up jobs and work.
It may cause Speaker Pelosi a conniption to hear it, but it turns out that paycheck policies are better for the poor than food stamp policies. Far from stomping on the poor, the Republican Congress from 1995-1999 did more to help the poor by giving them jobs than the Democratic Congress has during the last four years under Speaker Pelosi.
Drawing the contrast between food stamp policies and paycheck policies is not an attack on food stamps or on those who depend on the program for nutrition. It is an attack on the job killing policies of the Democrats that have led to more Americans needing food stamps. And it is a pledge to enact job creating policies of lower taxes, smaller government and less spending—the same formula that worked when I was Speaker, leading to more Americans with paychecks and fewer Americans with food stamps.
Don’t let the howls of protest from the food stamp party deter you. They’re just resorting to the same lies and distortions they always employ when faced with the failure of their radical left-wing agenda.
This time it’s not going to work. Americans are fed up with all the spending, all the taxing, and all the big government programs that are killing jobs. And they are going to make their voices heard on Election Day by electing job creating, “paycheck” candidates across the country.
How many “paycheck” candidates are elected is up to you.
At American Solutions, we have launched a project to bring 10 million new Americans to the polls on November 2. It’s called 10MillionVoters.com. Our website gives you easy ways to use Facebook, Twitter and other tools to maximize turnout for conservative candidates this fall. You can also recruit your friends to the effort. Click here to get started.
You can donate to specific, high value campaigns we have targeted at SolutionsPac.com. For instance, here are five key Congressional races we are highlighting this week.
The bottom line is this: there are just 20 days left until Election Day.
It’s time to win.
It’s time to win this election for every small business owner who has been crippled by the job-killing polices of this administration and Congress.
It’s time to win this election for every young American who will graduate in a few months into an increasingly bleak job market.
It’s time to win this election for every American family dependent on food stamps yearning for the independence of a paycheck.
In short, it’s time to win this election for every American.
Let’s get it done.
Your friend,
Newt Gingrich