US midterm elections: A lesson for developing democracies

ACHO ORABUCHI

Dallas, Texas, USA

aorabuchi@netzero.net

To the Republicans, Tuesday night was filled with political ennui as the Democrats skedaddled with victory.

Indeed, what was considered an implausible rout a few years ago actually happened when the Democrats took a complete control of the Congress—the House and Senate—at the conclusion of 2006 midterm elections. It was uncharacteristically a long night on Tuesday, November 7, 2006 for the Republicans, who were accustomed to winning and who had dominated the Congress for the past 12 years. To the Democrats, it was 12 years of hapless subservient role in the Congress in which they drool for the oversight function.

The immediate casualty of the seismic upset in Congress was the abrupt resignation of Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and the subsequent entrance Robert Gates. Mr. Gates is coming in to add a new perspective to the Iraq war that was a seminal issue during the campaign.

Whether the Democrats’ victory indicates a true realignment of the nation’s political landscape or fluke that would translate into a two-year hiatus for Republicans, would be determined by the way they take care of the business of the country.

In other words, are the results of 2006 midterm elections an indication of what would happen in 2008 elections? Some may claim that the monumental gains the Democrats made in the midterm elections is tantamount to clearing the political turf for 2008 presidential elections. Perhaps it was monumental to see an institution, a thirty-year incumbent, Congressman Jim Leach of 2^nd Congressional District, Iowa, lose his seat to a newcomer, Dave Loebsack.

Six Republican incumbent senators lost their respective seats to Democratic challengers. In Missouri, the incumbent, Senator Jim Talent lost his senate seat to Senate Claire McCaskill. While Conrad Burns lost his senate seat in Montana to Jon Tester, Senator Mike DeWine lost his to Sherrod Brown in Ohio. Also, in Pennsylvania and Rhodes Island, Senators Rick Santorum and Lincoln Chafee lost their seats to Robert Casey, Jr. and Sheldon Whitehouse respectively. It was a political drubbing for the Republicans. In a contentious race in Virginia, James Webb took the senate seat from the incumbent, George Allen, in a squeaker. “I am walking into the Senate with the independence to represent the people who have no voice in the corridors of power and I intend to do that,” said Senate-elect James Webb, who defeated Republican incumbent, George Allen.

Also, in the House, Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-California, would become the first woman House Speaker and third in line to be President of the United States of America. This is historic afoot.

The Democrats were able to redefine themselves, infuse a welter of rapid response in their campaign, reminiscent of Clinton years, and nationalize some issues, particularly the Iraq war. Furthermore, the Democrats’ political upend in the midterm elections came after voters had spurned them for 12 long years. As Democrats traipsed for a dozen years in the minority, they sustained their ideological opposition in the face of near total dominance of the Republicans. The Democrats never capitulated in fear of confronting a superior ideology for the time.  Their political and ideological perseverance later paid off this time when the electorate rejected the views of the Republicans and overwhelmingly accepted centrist “Dems.”

A lesson to be learned in this exercise, especially to those fledgling democracies who could not sustain an iota of credible opposition, is it pays to muster and sustain ideological opposition in a democracy. Credible opposition is essential to the growth and sustenance of democracy. In Nigeria for instance, no political party could sustain constructive opposition for a long period of time to the ruling party because of the gullibility of members of these parties. Corruption has eaten deep into the consciousness of the people to the extent that leaders of various parties could hyperventilate into other parties in a heartbeat. In an environment where most political parties are devoid of ideology, venal political behavior becomes the order of the day.

ANPP could not sustain political opposition despite its strong showing in the 2003 elections. Some its members have joined PDP because both the party and its members lacked ideological underpinnings required of a political party. Now, the country is witnessing vacuous shifts, as evidenced by the formation of AC, which accommodates  for the most part disgruntled members of PDP.

The midterm elections should teach participating members of democracy that it pays to sustain an ideological opposition within or to a party. Vacillating or jumping the ship should never be a better alternative.