By J. Randolph Evans – In case anyone missed it, there was an election on November 2, 2010. So, here is how it works. Americans let elected officials govern. Every so often, elected officials get confused about what this means and start to believe that indeed they have the power. So, Americans remind them about who has the real power in this country. Sometimes, the reminders are subtle, gentle reminders. Sometimes, they are not. On November 2, 2010, the reminder was in the “not so subtle” category.

Most recognize, including Republicans, that the November 2, 2010 election did not have much to do with Republicans at all. The Pledge To America was not the primary motivating factor moving voters to show up in big numbers to vote out incumbents. None of the Republican leaders (in either the House of Representatives or the Senate) were powerfully charismatic leaders using powers of persuasion to play on the emotions of voters to win an election in spite of the issues.

Instead, the November 2, 2010 election was a full-fledged rejection of arrogant power that forgets that the true and only source of power under the Constitution of the United States is “We the People.” As simple as it is, politicians need a pretty constant reminder.

Arrogant power is not unique to either Democrats or Republicans. In 1994, voters rejected President Bill Clinton and the first two years of his Presidency along with over forty years of Democratic Congressional rule. In 2006, voters rejected President Bush and the Republican Congress after they spent well beyond anything that Americans were willing to accept. And, in 2010, voters rejected President Obama and the Democratic Congress after they proved that they really did not care what Americans thought and moved forward with their own agenda.

Although some talking heads think otherwise, this is also not a relatively new phenomenon in American politics resulting from the advent of the internet or Cable News. Certainly, the flow of information has never been faster or more accessible. But, such explanations ignore American history. American voters have flexed their political muscle many, many times, especially when they did not like the way things were going. As a result, there have been big swings in Congressional elections since the country’s beginning, which have continued throughout the history of the United States.

While the 2010 likely 64 seat pick-up by Republicans appears monumental in contemporary political terms, there have been bigger swings. In 1842, the Whig Party lost 70 seats. It was a sign of bad things to come for the Whigs. In 1854, Democrats lost 70 seats and the American Party (another relic of American political history) picked up 62 seats.

In 1874, the Democrats picked up 94 seats with the Republicans losing 96 seats. In 1890, the Democrats picked up 86 seats with the Republicans losing 93 seats to be followed in short order with the Republicans then picking up 130 seats and the Democrats losing 125 seats. To make the point, American voters then in 1896 turned around and took away 48 seats from the Republicans.

Other big swings happened in 1922, (when Republicans lost 77 seats), 1932, (when Democrats picked up 97 seats), 1938, (when Republicans picked up 81 seats), and 1948, (when Democrats picked up 75 seats).

Sometimes these swings happen quite quickly. During an eight year period from 1912 to 1920, there were three 60+ Congressional seat swing elections. During a four year period from 1942 to 1946, there were two 5-0+/- seat swings in 1942 and 1946.

All of this puts the 54 seat pick up by Republicans in 1994, 31 seat pick up by Democrats in 2006, and likely 64 seat pick up by Republicans in 2010 in some perspective. But, there does appear to be one common theme among these big election swings. Voters expect results. If politicians cannot deliver on fixing the economy, curbing spending, ending a war, or addressing corruption, voters will elect someone else. Failure is not an option. Neither is delay.

This is not to say that the Republican wins on November 2, 2010 are not huge. They are monumental. After all, Republicans only lost 48 seats during 1974, the year of Watergate. So, 64 is a big number. But, no one should get confused about what it all means.

Job one for the Republicans is to focus on jobs. Yes, addressing Obamacare is important. Extending the tax cuts is important. But everything has to be viewed through the prism of jobs. For any politician who thinks this is about them, or something else, voters can and will set them straight – like they just did.