What's Reasonable About Being "Reasonable"?

[dreamer_of_time]

After the election in 2004, with a narrow 1 seat majority in the Senate, a mere 17 seat majority in the House, and 2% margin on their Presidential victory, Republicans triumphantly declared that they had a clear mandate from the American people. They cited that "mandate" for pushing their agenda through

Comments

[jdhenchman]

Considering what happened to the Republicans in 2006 and 2008, is there a danger of urging the Democrats to be more like the Republicans were then?

[dreamer_of_time]

That assumes that it was their lack of bipartisanship, and not the grotesque failures of unaffordable tax cuts, economic collapse and bailout, two unpopular wars, and loss of international prestige that caused the Republicans to lose in '06-'08. I'd find that unlikely.

Even if it were the former, the legacy of what Republicans passed still stands today (Medicare Part D, Hyde Ammendment, Assault Weapons ban lapse, tax cuts, to name a few). And my interest is not that Democrats remain eternally in power, but that they create an enduring legacy of universal health care, equal rights for gays, adherence to the rule of law, and a more stable and equitable economy.