Last Tuesday, the Republicans managed to gain control of the House and the Senate by sweeping the majority of the races across the country. The gubernatorial races were also swept by the Republicans across the nation.

Why? There are three reasons.

Reason 1: Because after Sept. 11, many people realized that they were more conservative than they thought they were.

Reason 2: People have just gotten sick of those representing the Democratic Party and their ability to get nothing constructive done in the position of power … well, nothing (other than interns) done.

Reason 3: People have just realized which party has the better ideas and concepts of how the government should be run, and went with the better party.

As I watched the wave of Republican wins sweep across the nation last Tuesday eve, I became excited about the chance that the Republicans might actually sweep Iowa too. Could it be possible that the ultra-liberal media in this state had the polls wrong? Could it be possible that an incredibly unethical senator will be (finally) tossed out of his seat? Might Ganske beat Harkin? Might it be possible that the person who promised me controlled lower tuition only four years ago get his personal belongings thrown out to the curb at Terrace Hill?

No.

Unfortunately for Iowa, none of this happened.

I did vote. And fortunately enough for me (and everyone else who lives in my district), a Republican congressman will be representing me in my district. Out of the five districts in Iowa, four were taken by Republicans. All five should have been. The Iowans in House District Three should have waved good-bye to Boswell and voted in a youthful, fresh-blooded Thompson. This race was not the race that disturbed me, though. It was the race for governor and Senate.

How could so many people vote for Sen. Tom Harkin and Gov. Tom Vilsack?

If the voters had looked at the issues and were aware about how these two men have been handling the government, I’m sure they would have looked past their own party lines to vote for the better person. Obviously they didn’t.

I’ll admit to it; I actually voted for Vilsack four years ago because I was a freshman in college and he said that he would control and possibly lower college tuition. Excuse me? Lower? I haven’t seen that happen, Mr. Vilsack. Maybe I should take a few more math classes because I can’t seem to understand your numbers and since I’ve been in college, my tuition has only been getting higher and higher.

According to www.theiowachannel.com, Vilsack pledged to only serve two terms. Let’s see if he keeps this promise in four years.

The Republicans wanted to talk about the issues that were important to Iowans. This was the platform that all of the Republicans across the nation ran on. The nation responded positively to the Republicans talking about the issues by voting them into office. The Democrats here in Iowa outnumber the Republicans — that is obvious. But before people go and vote they should really look at the candidates and the issues rather than being swayed by the negative ads and the whining of the Democrats about how the GOP has too much money. What about all of the union money that the Democrats get? It’s interesting that you never hear about that money that they have to run their campaign. It’s just something else that they think they can whine about.

Congratulations Iowa, you’ve got another four years of Vilsack and another six years of Harkin. (Note the sarcasm.)

On a serious note, Iowans are lucky enough that Harkin is in the minority now, but think about how better things would have been if Ganske had won the election. Finally things will get done in the government now that the Republicans are in charge of the House, Senate and the fact that we’ve got a Republican president. Iowa lucked out that the rest of the nation got the idea and voted for Republicans. Hopefully the rest of Iowa will not be as easily swayed by false promises and the plethora of negative ads by the Democrats in two years.

One can only hope that people will come around.

Sarah Bolton

is a senior in English from Glidden.