The other day I met a someone that writes a pretty interesting blog about Central Asia and Russia. I expect him to get involved in local Republican politics in the near future but for the time being enjoy the photos of the tap water.
Owen, keep posting. But only if I am allowed to tease you about your election predicitions.
I could try to convince Owen to be my first overseas reporter.
Owen, can you check the traffic to your site to see how it increases after this link?
I could easily have deleted my election predictions on the 8th, but I'm not a big fan of historical revisionism ;) Yes, you can tease me, and I'm still in shock that a purely negative campaign could create the reversal that it did. I never pretended to be a good election handicapper . . .
Owen, it just sounds like you let your preference get in the way of your analysis. The only other two people that predicted that the Republicans would hold the senate and the house were Karl Rove and George W. Bush.
I think many people voted for change rather than more of the same. The Republican party said there was no problem with corruption. So, if you thought that there wasn't a problem, you could vote for them. But after Delay, Cunningham, Ney, Foley and more many people disagreed.
The same goes for " You're doing a heck of a job, Rummy." Bush acted like he had the best defense Sec. in history, so you could vote for more of the same, or something new.
Brian
( BTW- I was not so sure about the senate).
For true REPUBLICANS that are tall and proud you will like this guy's website.
I just don't really trust the political handicappers. They're a bunch of parrots in an echo chamber. At one point they were all saying that it would take "a miracle," and I didn't think that one had materialized. Moreover, we heard on election day in 04 that Kerry was winning. The polls have been decidedly wrong for a while now. Remember when Bush was to have won the popular vote, but Gore the electoral vote?
Call me a radical, but I don't believe in voting for "something new" unless I know what that "new" is. The only thing was clear from the Democrats platform was a desire to raise taxes, and it should be pretty obvious what I feel about that.
Just to illustrate my stance on party loyalty, here's a post from the beginning of the year, back when everyone was still counting the Democrats out:
http://www.lexlibertas.com/lexlibertas/archives/2006/03/must_support_the_party.php
Owen if you just get it off your chest it could feel better:
STAY THE COURSE!
THERE IS NO CORRUPTION PROBLEM!
I have yet to hear a Dem candidate announce he/she was goinf to raise taxes. Yet for years I have watched Republicans legislators lower taxes for the wealthiest and raise govt fees and excise taxes for everyone else. The cost of the deficit alone has added to everyone's out of pocket expense. There's no secret that the average family is shelling out MORE of their income to provide the same services and benefits today than they did six years ago, when they were paying for them through their taxes.
If you still believe the Republican mantra of lower taxes and smaller government then you really are living in another world.