GOP’s beltway buffoons prepare to piss away victory
Posted by Richard on October 19, 2010
I've commented before that, on the eve of an anti-Democrat tsunami, the stupid leadership of the Stupid Party might just try to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. Should victory come anyway, and the American people give the GOP another chance, they might just try to screw it up again. They're already signaling their willingness to do so:
If they recapture the House, Republicans say they are wary of following the example of the class of 1994, which shut down the government in a standoff with President Bill Clinton. Top Republicans contend that passing legislation, or at least making a good faith effort to do so, will earn them more credibility with voters than refusing to waver from purist principles.
Three points: (1) This isn't 1994. (2) Shutting down the government wasn't the class of 1994's big mistake — failing to effectively communicate their reasons, values, and goals (and then abandoning them) was. (3) The last thing the fired-up electorate that's poised to hand them power is interested in is passing legislation — especially the kind of bipartisan BS these clowns seem to have in mind.
"It's pretty clear the American people expect us to use the existing gridlock to create compromise and advance their agenda," said Rep. Darrell Issa (R., Calif.). "They want us to come together [with the administration] after we agree to disagree."
That's got to be one of the stupidest and most incoherent quotes ever uttered. And it makes it crystal clear that Issa and those like him have no understanding of the American people, have nothing in common with the American people, and must hold the American people in contempt.
As Angelo M. Codevilla noted in his critically important American Spectator article, inside the beltway there is little difference between the leaders of the two parties. Both are part of the ruling class and very different from what Codevilla called the "country class." (If you haven't read that article, I strongly urge you to do so.)
The stupid leadership of the Stupid Party is as contemptuous of and hostile to the grass-roots Tea Party movement as their friends in Evil Party are. The establishment GOP leadership may accept Tea Party votes (except when they're cast against the Murkowskis of the party), but they're not about to let unenlightened yahoos from the hinterlands actually control the reins of power or change The Way Things Work in Washington.
After the election, if it goes as predicted, there's going to be an even bigger battle — a battle for the soul of the Republican Party. The outcome will depend on how many "upstarts" — principled people committed to the values that the stupid leadership merely mouths insincerely — we send to Washington.
The outcome of that battle will also determine whether the Republican Party survives as a major party. Because the "country class" has awakened. And the Tea Party movement isn't going away.
UPDATE: Read this uncharacteristically long Instapundit post. And note especially this quote from reader Cam Edwards:
All this talk of third parties has me wondering: why wouldn’t it be easier for Tea Partiers to take over the local party apparatus of the GOP (and to a lesser extent, the Dems as well) instead of creating a third party from scratch? If the same Tea Partiers that have been attending rallies, town hall meetings, candidate forums, etc. turned that same energy post-election to both taking over parties at the local level, as well as running candidates for things like city council, school board, county commission (the offices that won’t make you famous, but can make you effective)… I think it could be shocking how much the political landscape could change by 2012.
Sounds like a plan to me.
David Aitken said
So are you going to join the Republican Party?
rgcombs said
Nope. Not any time soon. After the election, I’ll be watching with interest the battle over control of the wheelhouse. If the “political class” leadership remains at the helm of the S.S. GOP, it could begin taking on water. And many of the passengers and crew may abandon it for a new ship bound on a better course.
OTOH, maybe the “mutineers” will take control, clean out the bilge, and chart a new course for the old vessel.
I think Cam Edwards’ point has merit. As we Libertarians know all too well, it’s not easy to challenge the dominance of the two major parties — much harder than it was in 1856. A less “purist,” more broad-based limited government movement might have a somewhat better chance, but it’s still a tough row to hoe.
Unless one of the major parties helps out a lot by essentially self-destructing. It’s possible the GOP (like the Whigs) will do that.
It’s also possible that the grass-roots Tea Party Republicans will take over and clean house. Edwards is probably correct in thinking that a broad-based limited government movement has a better chance of seizing control of the GOP than of replacing it. But only time will tell.
We live in interesting times. 🙂