I have a simple question were the American people right in their decision last night? Republicans are reeling right now from the public’s clear rebuke. They have lost the House and are almost certain to lose the Senate. It was a big wakeup call for a party once in power. But were the voters right? Sadly the answer is yes.

I have learned over a few years of having observing politics to trust the voter in the end. Elections that seemed wrong and ones that I disagreed with profoundly turned out to be pragmatic and clear in the end. For example I never liked President Clinton and would never vote for him but having Bob Dole as a one term President wasn’t a very appealing alternative either. Also at the time I was irate at the Senate’s unwillingness to remove an impeached President Clinton. But in the end the people’s wise unwillingness to remove a disgraced President saved us from President Al Gore.

So what were the lessons and the pragmatics decision of the voters in 2006? One the shaky conservatives I spoke to ached for a responsible opposition party. A friend of mine who is a moderate republican said it plainly to me. “I want to vote for Democrat a responsible Democrat.” I basically told him that they didn’t exist ignoring his basic point and his yearning for a responsible opposition. Democrats now have been put in a position to be that responsible party that Americans yearn for. Power also acts as a magnifying glass to people and parties. Under the lens you either glitter or burn. The Democrats now have to justify the trust placed in them by voters.

There is also a hidden silver lining in this that transcends party and ideology. The war on terror and Iraq can no longer be a Republican war. It will have to become an American war. The Democrats will get their pound of flesh but in the end they will be the ones making decisions. Platitudes like we are against torture will no longer be a mask, which they can successfully hide behind. They will be faced with the real decision of how to treat and interrogate enemy combatants.

On Iraq and the war on terror the Democrats will finally have to choose a course. They can no longer triangulate their position saying in all things that they would have done more or less than the President in every instance. They will join the President in the decision-making and the responsibility for those decisions. In the end we can only trust the decision of the voters and listen to their message.