One has to wonder if anyone—especially Republicans—heard what voters had to say at the ballot box two weeks ago. It sure doesn’t seem like it. Our elected officials should have gleaned at least a few obvious lessons from this year’s election cycle:

1. Democrats did not deserve to win, but Republicans deserved to lose.

Democrats did not regain control of Congress because of their new and innovative proposals for resolving economic and national security issues. Instead, they won simply by reminding voters of Republican errors. Their victory was quite easy, really, because the Republican Party is a complete mess. Many Republicans have turned into enthusiastic advocates of overspending and big government. Worse, their big government measures are sometimes unprincipled, as when they imposed massive new restrictions on free speech, purely for partisan, political gain.

2. This election was not a rebuke of conservatism, as some commentators have stated. It was a rebuke of Republicans who have forgotten the conservative tenets in their own party platform.

The Republican base has tolerated the increasingly big government ways of the Republican leadership for several years. They have put up with this anti-Reaganesque behavior for two reasons: First, because they are concerned about the War on Terrorism; and, second, because they recognize the importance of good judicial nominations. But many voters have finally had enough. They are frustrated with the status of the War in Iraq. Many were outraged by the Supreme Court nomination of Harriet Miers last fall. Absent the motivation provided by judges and the war, these voters found themselves with no remaining reason to vote Republican, and Democrats benefited from this conservative exasperation. Notably, many of the new Democratic representatives are much more conservative than the incumbent Democrats that they will be joining in Congress.

3. Republicans failed to make a campaign issue out of the judicial confirmations process. They lost the Senate. This is not a coincidence.

Republican Senate campaigns should have focused on judges. Their failure to do so is inexplicable. Conservatives value judges who are committed to interpreting the Constitution, as it is written. Liberal judges who see the Constitution as a “living” document can inadvertently allow their personal biases to influence their reading of the law. Self-governance can’t co-exist with such judicial activism. The President has made two excellent appointments to the Supreme Court, despite his misstep with Miers. Unfortunately, many of his qualified nominees for the appellate courts still languish, unconfirmed, in the Senate. Republicans should have shone a spotlight on this fact during their campaigns. They failed to do so, but they can rectify this mistake during the next two years. Even in the Senate minority, Republicans can and should stand strong on this issue. For instance, they can filibuster Democratic legislation if Senate Democrats fail to vote the President’s judicial nominees out of committee. Moreover, the President should use his recess appointments power to fill vacancies if and when Senate Democrats refuse to confirm his qualified nominees. Finally, grassroots Republicans outside the Beltway need to let their Senators know that they will support this type of resolute action, aimed at obtaining confirmation for the President’s qualified nominees.

4. Locally, Dallas Republicans took a beating. Many of these officials were good, hardworking public servants, and such a result is unfortunate.

In Dallas, many long-serving, well-respected Republican judges were booted from office, and many of these judges were replaced by woefully unqualified and inexperienced Democratic candidates. It is unlikely that voters were really upset at the incumbent Republican judges. They probably didn’t even know who these judges were. Instead, they were frustrated with Republicans at the state and national levels, and a successful straight-ticket effort by the Dallas County Democratic Party sealed the deal. Judges bore the brunt of dissatisfaction that was never aimed at them in the first place. This series of events is an argument for appointment of judges in the State of Texas.

Only time will tell if our new set of elected legislators will learn anything from this year’s election cycle, but Republicans, at least, do not seem to be off to a good start. To the contrary, they seem determined to maintain the status quo. They have already re-elected John Boehner and Roy Blunt to their old spots in the House leadership. They should have instead elected new faces to shake things up, forcing Republicans to take a fresh look at themselves. A similar error was made when Senator Mel Martinez, an establishment figure and Bush favorite, was appointed head of the Republican National Committee. Maryland senatorial candidate Michael Steele would have been a much better alternative.

Two years is a long time in politics. Here’s hoping that both parties learn the lessons that 2006 had to offer before the presidential elections of 2008.

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