democracia participativa y derechos humanos / participatory democracy & human rights

[Red for Republicans and Blue for Democrats are the colors usually chosen for electoral result maps]

Republicans need to gain 10 seats to take control of the Senate. It’s a daunting task, but energized Republicans, dispirited Democrats, and deficit-wary independents are putting Democratic-held seats in unexpected jeopardy.  The fight for control of the House of Representatives may also turn out to be a big disappointment for the Democratic Majority.

House GOP leaders make a public promise to limit government if they return to power as both parties scramble toward November.  The strategy may work in view of the huge fiscal deficit.  Republicans must assure voters that they will not return to the free-spending ways they showed while leading Congress under President Geroge W. Bush.

Hoping to go back to the future, congressional Republicans on Sept. 23 rolled out their legislative agenda six weeks ahead of this November's mid-term elections. Today's GOP is hoping to repeat the election success of its 1994 forebears. That crop of Republican leaders won the House for the first time in four decades, gaining 54 House seats after promoting a "Contract with America" on the steps of the U.S. Capitol.

This time conservative lawmakers unveiled "A Pledge to America" in front of a suburban Virginia hardware store. The backdrop was appropriate because Republican lawmakers have work to do in dropping their "party of no" moniker.

Standing in a Virginia lumber store, top House Republicans in their shirtsleeves (John Boehner in photo) announced their party’s plan if it takes control of the House. The 21-page “Pledge to America” focuses on reining in government regulation and spending as well as repealing portions of healthcare reform, like the mandate that small businesses file 1099 forms for any purchase over $600.

The pledge reflected Tea Party concerns, too, describing the government as “arrogant and out-of-touch” and mentioning the need for fidelity to the Constitution and “founding principles” numerous times.

The Tea Party movement, originally launched as a non-partisan alternative, keeps drawing followers mainly from Republican voters.  This fact might damage Republican hopes for November as voters take the message conveyed by extremists taking over the Tea Party flock as the true basis for the Republican Party platform.

After spoiling the plans of the Republican Party establishment in Florida, Nevada, and Alaska, the Tea Party train pulled into Delaware by mid September.

Christine O’Donnell, with stout financial backing from the Tea Party movement, defeated nine-term US Rep. Mike Castle in the state’s GOP Senate primary. This primary result marks what has been a season-long storyline of veteran lawmakers facing real threats and defeats.

[ Read text of "A Pledge to America" (in PDF format) ]