Mid-Term Elections a "Pragmatic Reaction"

In a speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference in February, Boehner said: “Ladies and gentlemen, if you help elect a Republican Congress this November, and I’m fortunate enough to be elected Speaker of the House, I pledge to you right here and now: We’re going to run the House differently. And I don’t just mean differently than the way Democrats are running it now. I mean differently than it’s been run in the past under Democrats or Republicans.”

In that speech, included in Boehner’s list of issues a Republican majority in the House won’t “bend on” is the sanctity of life. He continued, “In November, pro-life lawmakers joined together to stop Democrats from using taxpayer dollars to fund abortion procedures. We got some flak for working with the other party on this — but on protecting the unborn, there’s no compromise.”

In the days before the election, the Catholic congressman from Ohio told talk radio host Sean Hannity: “We will not compromise on our principles.” And when asked what he was doing to prep for Election Day and after, he told radio host Mike Gallagher, “I’ve been praying all day, every day,” he said.

Catholics in public life have been known to not be the best examples of discernment and prudence. Catholics in public life have been known to allow themselves and their faith to be used as cover for an evil in particular we really cannot afford to be party to. It’s worth praying that this speaker may help give witness to something different.

The campaign commercial that captured the midterm elections of 2010 was titled “Mourning in America,” a transparent riff on the “Better, Prouder, Stronger” commercial in Ronald Reagan’s 1984 re-election series.

“There’s mourning in America,” the commercial goes. “Under the leadership of President Obama our country is fading, and weaker, and worse off. His policies were a grand experiment; policies that failed. This November, let’s choose a smaller, more caring government; one that remembers us.”

The election results, which delivered a strong majority to Republicans in the House, but mixed results overall, suggested not a partisan reaction but a pragmatic reaction. A rejection of what Washington has been doing.

Read it all here.