Pity the poor left. It's not had a good even-numbered year since Bill Clinton's 1996 re-election. And even that wasn't exactly a year to remember.
It was only a mixed blessing for the Democratic Party, for in that same election year Republicans won back both houses of Congress.
To make matters worse – and to rub in the even-numbered jinx – in 1998 the Democrats' Clinton became only the second American president ever to be impeached.
Mixed Blessing
There are those who might argue that 1996 was more a Republican good year, since without Clinton's election he wouldn't have been around to be impeached two years later.
Story Continues Below
In any event, it is fair to note that throughout the past decade even-numbered years have all been great Republican years:
1996 – Republicans take back majorities in the Senate and the House of Representatives.
1998 – Republicans retain control of both houses and impeach Clinton (but fail to convict him in the Senate trial, thanks to a few lily-livered Republicans).
2000 – In a presidential election so close it has to be decided by the Supreme Court (causing the left to proclaim it was robbed), Republican George W. Bush defeats Democrat Al Gore (propelling him into a terminal state of denial).
2000 – In the House, although Democrats pick up two members, Republicans still keep a controlling majority.
2000 – In the Senate, Democrats gain five seats to give them a 50-50 split, but Republicans keep control by virtue of Vice President Dick Cheney's tie-breaking vote.
2001 – (Here's one of those off-numbered years that seem to benefit the left.) Sen. "Jumpin' Jim" Jeffords of Vermont, who had been elected as a Republican, switches party affiliation to Independent (whatever that is) and sides with the Democrats, giving them a one-vote majority in the upper chamber.
2002 – In the midterm congressional elections, Republicans garner an eight-vote margin in the House.
2002 – In the Senate, Republicans regain control (albeit by a slim 51-48 margin, which translates in practical effect to 51-49, considering Jeffords' false-flag affiliation with the Democrats). And off-year congressional elections are supposed to benefit the party out of power?
2004 – Bush is re-elected with a popular vote of 62,040,606 to Democrat John Kerry's 59,026,109. Nobody in the nation's history has received as many votes as Bush in 2004. Granted, the population is growing, but the closest any successful presidential candidate has come to Bush's victory in 2004 was Ronald Reagan, another Republican, with 54,455,075 votes in 1984.
2004 – In the House, Republicans increase their majority by two seats. The division now stands at Republicans 231 (their greatest number since the election of 1946), Democrats 202 (their fewest number since the election of 1928, another even-numbered year), Independent 1 and one vacancy.
2004 – In the Senate, Republicans add another four seats, giving them 55 (their greatest number since the election of 1928) to 44 for the Democrats (which, even counting Jeffords' vote as an Independent, is still their lowest since the 1928 election).
You have to go back 78 years in American history to find a House of Representatives or a Senate with fewer members than the left commands today – and commands is the appropriate operative word.
Are you beginning to see why the left, which now owns the Democratic Party lock, stock and barrel-over-the-falls, is getting so pusy as the even-numbered midterm congressional elections of 2006 grow nigh?
It's bad enough from the left's perspective that Republicans have won 23 of the 37 presidential elections since Abraham Lincoln was elected in 1860. Out of the past 37 presidential elections (all held on even-numbered years of course), only 14 successes by Democrats in 144 years is enough to inspire dedicated desperation on the left.
What a Difference a Year Makes
Now, here it is 2006, another even-numbered year, and Election Day is just 10 months away.
Numerology is quack non-science nonsense (very much like opinion polls), and election years are even-numbered years, but still it's enough to give the likes of Howard Dean, Hillary Clinton, Harry Reid, Barbara Pelosi, John Kerry, Teddy Kennedy and Co. the willies.
Happy New Year!
John L. Perry, a prize-winning newspaper editor and writer who served on White House staffs of two presidents, is a regular columnist for NewsMax.com.
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