The Day After

WITH AT LEAST a gain of 30 seats in the House of Representatives and a gain of 4 to 6 seats in the United States Senate the Democrats have earned a famous victory. It seems to be about average for a second-term off-year election.

I have felt for some time that it was time to Democrats to be back in power. They need to be in power to connect with reality in the post 9/11 world, and the American people need to see them at it. So it is probably best if the Democrats win the presidency in 2008.

Right now the Democrats say that it is all Bush’s fault. They experience the War on Terror as a continuation of a cycle of violence, not a clash of civilizations. Very well. Let us put the question to the proof.

That was, after all, the question in the mid to late 1970s. Was the Cold War a fight against a cruel and brutal Soviet Union, or was it an “inordinate fear of Communism,” as President Carter put it. The question was put to the American people, they elected Ronald Reagan as president, and the rest is history.

The great issues of the next decade will be the conflict with Islam, the failure of the welfare state, the refinement of the global economy, and the question of life. Notice how the two political parties in the United States line up.

For the Democrats the War on Terror is a Republican trick, the welfare state is a source of jobs and power, the global economy is something to hide from, and life is a choice.

For the Republicans the War on Terror is a clash of civilizations, the welfare state is a tragic mistake that has cratered the poor and the dependent, the global economy is a challenge to be embraced, and life is a sacred gift.

And that completely avoids the question of global warming.

Which side would you rather be on?

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Christopher Chantrill blogs at www.roadtothemiddleclass.com. His Road to the Middle Class is forthcoming.