ON'T FAIRFAX FREDERICKSBURG." That sentiment propelled Bill Beck into the mayor's seat in 2000. In 1999, and again in 2003, it was "Slow Growth" that got Pete Fields elected supervisor in Stafford County.
Both slogans were catchy and effective, but neither expressed the Big Picture--the visions that got Beck and Fields elected. For Beck, it was Government in the Sunshine, a rebuttal of closed-door, special-interest local politics. For Fields, it was Quality of Life, a refutation of what had become seen by some as carte blanche for developers.
Last Tuesday, the Big Picture was certainly in play in national politics; only the bumper stickers and broader issues were obviously different from those local ones in '99 and '03. In both the House and the Senate, it was all about Iraq.
But Republicans and Democrats alike will want to keep one eye on Europe.
Europe?
Bruce Bawer, in his stunning book "While Europe Slept," warns us, as do other observers,
The author--a self-described gay American literary journalist--moved to the Netherlands to escape, among other disenchantments, Christian fundamentalism. Europe, he was certain, would be better, more tolerant, and positively multicultural.
But within a short time as a citizen of Europe, Bawer came to view Europe's one-sided leftward tilt as both extreme and extremely dangerous. In relating actual events, statistical and historical facts, and personal stories from years living and traveling through Western Europe, Bawer shows the ill effects of unchecked extremism of any political stripe--in this case, political correctness, and the subsequent failure of immigration policies to assimilate huge influxes of new citizens (especially those who refuse to obey secular laws in their adopted countries and are draining a welfare system that is rarely tapped by the natives).
Europe's general foreign policy, even in the aftermath of terrorist attacks on Barcelona and London, can best be described as appeasement, Bawer warns. And with more than 60 percent of European media either owned or subsidized by the governments, an elitist group of government, media, and academics make "See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil" the official policy on terrorism, the immigration crisis, and welfare reform.
The victims in the immigration crisis, in their parlance, are always the immigrants--even those who turn out in street gangs to kill or maim Jews, Christians, women, and homosexuals.
And if declining economies and riots were not enough warning of failed policies, the much-feared European youth backlash is simmering--if not rising toward a clear and present danger--and represents a level of nationalism rivaling that of Germany in the 1930s.
So Europe's example matters. Republicans who disdain the liberalism of House Speaker-elect Nancy Pelosi will cite Western Europe's demise in response to her affection for domestic and foreign policies that mirror the other side of the pond. Liberal Democrats, five days after taking charge with mostly moderate replacements for mostly conservative incumbents, would be wise to reconsider how far left our country can afford to go.
Take heart, Democrats: You have the House and the Senate, with an eye on the White House in '08. But you'd do well to keep an eye on Europe, too. While Bawer sheds light on why the Europeans don't like us, he urges the American Left to re-evaluate its love affair with Western European governments.
Despite the election results, all is not lost for Republicans. The bumper sticker "W--Still the President" still means something in Washington, and our government remains nearly split down the middle in both chambers of Congress--with both looking, overall, more moderate now than in recent memory.
As hard as it is for Republicans to swallow, the Founding Fathers may be smiling. It's close to being just how they envisioned the federal government--neatly balanced between the two parties, from the legislative branch to the executive branch.
And take heart, America: Iraq--our current Big Picture issue--may yet draw a worthy consensus. Both sides await James Baker and Lee Hamilton's bipartisan Iraq Study Group findings for a new direction, and secretary of defense nominee Bob Gates has
Both political parties feel the anguish of casualties and the effects of deployment on our committed military families--a human drama that merits broader coverage--along with Iraqi progress. Both sides seem to understand the importance of how we eventually leave Iraq
We Americans hope for unity in a common cause. The war in Iraq, the greater war on terror, and several weighty domestic issues will make up the Big Picture over the next decade. Somewhere in a New Middle we might find good policies that satisfy most Americans of every political stripe.
A definitive Iraqi resolution would be big, but policies gleaned from the lessons of today's Europe-in-crisis could equally define the Big Picture.