November 5, 2009
What should we make out of Tuesday's elections? Republicans won big in Virginia and New Jersey. They lost the special election in New York's 23rd district, but that was because of the poor selection of a liberal GOP candidate. The big issue is that Americans don't want radical and immediate change. They want to see if your ideas work before allowing you to go forward. That was the problem when Republicans took over Congress in 1994. They moved too quickly and did not bring the public with them. This administration and these liberal congressional Democrats are even more radical than the 1994 Republicans. The voters Tuesday said, "Not so fast."
The power of the big media to influence is dwindling as well. The Washington Post went out of its way - editorially and on its front page - to campaign for the Democrat who lost in Virginia. Same with the New York Times in New Jersey, which backed Jon Corzine, who spent $23 million of his own money and is the biggest loser.
Now Republicans in Virginia and New Jersey must demonstrate their ideas of lower taxes and less spending work.
Cal Thomas is a nationally syndicated columnist based in Washington, D.C.
