Posted on 12/09/2014 5:39:31 AM PST by SeekAndFind
Rush Limbaugh is a savvy guy who thinks Republican leaders are wrong to shun the idea of another government shutdown. Appearing on Fox News Sunday, he argued that the only important poll is the one held on Election Day. “[The GOP] won a landslide election ten months after that so-called shutdown . . . The essence of a poll is an election, and I’ve got two of them. And we would have won in 2012 if 4 million Republicans hadn’t stayed home.”
The belief that Romney would have won in 2012 if millions of Republicans hadn’t sat out the election is widely shared on the right, but it’s probably not true. Sean Trende, one of the country’s most careful election analysts, examined turnout data for Real Clear Politics. Counties that voted for Ross Perot tended to show a drop off in 2012, suggesting that a possible 6.5 million white voters were “missing” in 2012. But, as Trende observes, Romney would have had to win those voters by 90 percent to alter the outcome of the election, and considering that he won an average of 60 percent of white votes, that seems far-fetched.
Democrats plan for decades to achieve their goals. They aim to “fundamentally transform” the United States into a social-democratic nation like France, Germany, and well, Greece. When they gain majorities, they push their agenda to the breaking point, as they did in 2009 with Obamacare — a vote that cost them dearly in electoral defeats (and is now lamented by Senators Schumer and Harkin). Half of the senators who voted for Obamacare are no longer in office, and Democrats have lost control of both houses.
Republicans want to shrink government, revive the mediating institutions of society like family, community groups, and churches, improve national defense, and restore economic vitality by removing government-imposed burdens on small business. A key ambition, universally endorsed by Republicans, is repealing and replacing Obamacare.
Unlike Democrats though, Republicans are hampered by distrust of one another. Rush Limbaugh feeds this atmosphere of suspicion by suggesting that the reason Republican leaders are avoiding another shutdown is that they secretly support what Obama has done on immigration. “The Republicans want what Obama wants on immigration and they are using the government shutdown as an excuse to not stop [him].”
There is little doubt that the shutdown damaged the party’s standing. Polls showed that approval of the Republican party hit an all time low of 32 percent during the shutdown. Fifty-three percent of Americans blamed the GOP for the impasse, versus only 29 percent who blamed the president. Approval of Congress registered at 12 percent, with 85 percent disapproving and 70 percent strongly disapproving.
And for what? After three and a half weeks of predictable and predicted bad press, Republicans were forced to reopen the government having achieved nothing. The shutdown was a triumph of politics as tantrum. There could be no path to repealing Obamacare while Democrats controlled the Senate and Obama sat in the Oval Office.
There are two reasons that Republicans will always get blamed for government shutdowns. (1) The press will, without fail, report the shutdown as the Republicans’ doing and highlight the suffering of those whose checks fail to arrive, or whose businesses are harmed, or whatever; and (2) Democrats are the government party. Even low-information voters know that Democrats are for government, and Republicans more or less against it. Government shutdowns permit Republicans to be caricatured as irresponsible anarchists who cannot be trusted with power.
While it’s true that Republicans won in 2014 despite their 2013 foolishness, we have the enduring stability of the American electorate to credit for that. When dissatisfied, American voters don’t take to the streets, they simply vote for the other party. Considering Obama’s blunders, it’s possible that Republicans would have done even better last month if the shutdown had never happened. New Hampshire and Virginia were close.
Rather than impugning one another’s motives, the chief job of Republicans over the next two years will be to send reform bills to the president’s desk that broad majorities of the American people support. When he vetoes them, the issues will be squarely presented to the voters in 2016. That’s the only path to repealing Obamacare, reversing the president’s unconstitutional executive order, and generally getting the ship of state righted.
— Mona Charen is a senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center
Republicans didn’t shut down the government Obama did it was his way or no way.
Not the RINO leadership (which is still in control); they want to spend just as much as the Demorats.
Sadly and begrudgingly, I agree with you and Mona. The partisan media has the low information voter thinking like an idiot. They already have the govvies here in DC whining about Republicans and they have not even taken office yet, for crying out loud. One caveat is that of timing...a shutdown in January for example is much better than a shutdown near an election day.
Polls...
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3078203/posts
‘”Who is the biggest obstacle to ending the shutdown?”
44% Obama or Democrats in Congress
42% Republicans in Congress’
No other poll compared peoples views *of the parties*.
All other reported polls ignored people’s views of the Democrat Party.
“And we would have won in 2012 if 4 million Republicans hadn’t stayed home.”
I am not so sure. To me, the precinct returns in some key States told a chilling tale of behind the scenes manipulation.
Because they don't want to.
“What good does kicking the can down the road do if the Republicans are only going to surrender anyway?”
There is no viable path forward for the Republicans to repeal obamacare. There is no viable path forward for the Republicans to undo Obama’s amnesty.
Those advocating government shutdowns are like the Japanese in WWII. Faced with the frustration of their desires, they want to launch hopeless Banzai charges and commit seppuku. It won’t accomplish anything but it is the ‘honorable thing to do’.
I don't think the real issue is to shutdown/not shutdown, the issue is what is the GOP going to do to stop the massive amnesty illegally implemented by the feral gov.?
Based upon the actions of boehner/mcconnell the answer is not much.
It would be Obama shutting it down
Anything from RINOview should be suspect
BUMP
National Review, once stood athwart history yelling “Stop!”... now it cowers behind desks, afraid of liberal media coverage
What do you consider 'viable'?
They certainly have a path to shut down Obamacare. Now. Not January. What they don't have is the will.
/johnny
“viable” like the candidacies of McCain, Dole and Romney I guess
/johnny
bump
If the Republicans have no way to repeal O-care and/or reverse the illegal immigration pass of the community organizer, then they have a problem. Because that’s what they were elected to do. Even by the low-info voter.
What do you think they were elected for? Because of their winning personalities?
Joe Sixpack looked at his checking account this last year and realized this free healthcare isn’t so free after all. And then saw the Boy King issue a fiat to 5 million more competitors for his job. Granted that was after the election but it’s now in every mind no matter how dim.
So if they don’t do something about this situation they are going to look like fools, and will pay dearly in 2016. They can’t just push for tax cuts, because even if that would make economic sense the press will paint it as “tax cuts for the rich”. They have to make it look like they are trying SOMETHING about those two issues. Or this will be the last time they are ever in charge of anything.
abject surrender has never been a winning strategy
Also when the employer mandate exemption extension that was quietly done this last year expires, and millions more loose their healthcare coverage at work, the low info voters are gonna be looking for someone to blame. And if the Republicans aren’t doing something about that, there will be hell to pay.
That's right. Unfortunately that seems to be the only "strategy" the GOP knows these days.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.