The political Left depends upon this sort of attack because it doesn’t have any ideas. Or, at least, no ideas that enjoy majority support. That’s where the New Jersey decision comes in. It’s the perfect encapsulation of two liberal policy positions: They’re in favor of gay marriage, and they’re in favor of unelected judges making policy decisions and telling elected lawmakers what they must do.
Suffice to say we won’t be hearing any Democratic candidates running on either of these positions this year. As even The New York Times observed, “Democrats have turned to conservative and moderate candidates who fit the profiles of their districts more closely than the profile of the national party.”
But gay marriage is on the ballot in some places. Virginians, for example, will be voting on a constitutional amendment that would ban gay marriage. Back in 2004, a similar amendment helped turn out voters in Ohio, and many think those conservative voters gave President Bush his margin of victory in that critical state. So even if polls show Sen. George Allen trailing today in Virginia, expect a big turnout on Tuesday that will put him over the top.
The New Jersey decision, meanwhile, helps the right. It’s as if the political left had put out a white paper laying out two of its most unpopular positions. Except few people read political white papers, while conservatives everywhere are likely to be energized to vote against allowing unelected judges to tell them what to do.
Of course, some disagree. “In the United States, and perhaps beyond, the political pendulum is swinging left,” former Clinton Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers wrote in the L.A. Times Oct. 31. That’s exactly wrong.
The tide is clearly moving to the right. A recent CNN poll found that 54 percent of Americans believe the government is trying “to do too many things that should be left to individuals and businesses.” That poll, incidentally, also “showed that an overwhelming majority of Americans perceive, correctly, that the size and cost of government have gone up in the past four years, when Republicans have had a grip on the House of Representatives, the Senate and the White House,” CNN wrote on its Web site.
Next week, newspapers may be writing the obituary of Republican leadership. There’s little doubt that Republicans, dragged down by their anti-conservative spending policies, are going to lose seats. But no matter how the election goes, it’ll be a victory for conservatives.