The 1994 Republican "Correction"

34 Democrats lost their jobs. Stalwart liberal heavyweights like Dan Rostenkowski and Jack Brooks were sent packing, and Newt Gingrich solemnly declared November 1994 a "Republican Revolution." As an idealistic young conservative, the allure of the Speaker's phraseology has always been overwhelmingly compelling. It also proved dangerously intoxicating for national GOP leaders. Many seemed to believe that liberalism, if not dealt a definitive deathblow, had been put on the tract to ultimate extinction by a wave of conservative revivalism within the electorate.

12 years later Newt's glorious revolution seems like a fading dream, much as Lenin's or Robespierre's. But what happened to the Republican Revolution? To start with, it was not really a "revolution" at all. After the dust settled on that long ago election night, the GOP had 230 seats to the Democrats 204. A 54-seat swing and a dramatic realignment of Congress, certainly. A new era in American politics? Undoubtedly. A revolution? A 26 seat majority pales in contrast to the 196 seat advantage the Democrats won in 1932, or even the 82 seat control the Dems commanded just two years earlier in 1992. Admittedly, the "1994 Republican Correction" is a less-than-sexy way to label a historic victory. Taking over Congress after 40 years of uninterrupted opposition control was a tremendous accomplishment. Nevertheless, a revolution by definition constitutes a momentous change in government which, in the case of 1994, never took place. Partly due to its small majority, largely as a result of the corrupting trapping of Congress, no conservative revolution took place. Some great legislation was produced, including real welfare and tort reforms. Other efforts failed, notably (and tellingly) The Citizen Legislature Act which would have constitutionally mandated congressional term limits. Certainly Republicans like Tom Delay acted as if they commanded a massive ideological mandate, believing that all-day votes and ridiculous spending would go unnoticed. A decade later, many of the courageous "revolutionaries" who compelled President Clinton to declare big-government "over" now treat taxpayer's resources very much like a 16-yr old girl with a credit card in the mall. Freedom fighters have become the tyrants, liberators devolved to conspirators.

The House Of Representatives circa 1992 was not representative of the nation at large. America is not a liberal country, and as Fmr. Speaker Foley found out, unwilling to long-indulge socialist tendencies in their national leadership. Nevertheless, the United States is not now a bastion for Milton Friedman libertarianism or Barry Goldwater conservatism. I would contend that the U.S. is considerably right of center, especially in contrast to Europe or Central America. Yet, the American polity remains equally divided between two broad philosophical camps. How else can one explain Sherrod Brown's Senate race lead in Ohio, or the continued market for Pat Buchannan books with conservatives?

The most sensational claim that could rightly apply to 1994 was that it gave birth to a resistance. It's coming was foretold by Goldwater and Reagan, and that wonderful Fall saw conservatives battle back after half a century stained by leftist dominance of the federal government. The fatal folly of conservatives was to assume that hope is unto itself sufficient for victory. Somehow, many posited, the awesome righteousness and intelligence of the Right will bleed liberalism to death. But concepts like the free market, personal responsibility, and constitutional primacy are a tough sell. Many in our own party remain unconvinced, and many in power treat the principles behind the Contract with America as inconvenient platitudes. Consequently, the voters will sow a crop that yield a bitter Republican harvest.

Until then Americans are waiting for a revolution, one that 12 decades of Republican rule failed to enact and Democratic leadership will never embrace. We are thirsting for a real defeat of 19th century backward socialist idiocy, signaling a victory that will move a nation forward to a brighter future. We demand a realization of a City on a Hill, of which Reagan foretold and for what millions of conservatives have labored. Whether it arrives through a visionary in 2008 or means unknown in 50 years in the future, American businessmen, truckers, doctors, engineers, lawyers, homemakers and students will not cease the endless call to return to a form of government that is by, for, accountable to and cognizant of the timeless persons and principles that ensure the greatness of these United States.