Replies

Excellent post, very informative and a must read.
What you experienced can be seen in the Republican Party's actions; as I described over here [reposted below] — it is good to find independent & experiential confirmation of my observations.

Title: DELAY OBAMACARE A YEAR OR WE WILL SHUT IT DOWN - BOEHNER MAKES MOVE
Question: can we trust Boehner to stand firm?
>> The delay isn't a complete cave. One year expires October 1, 2014, just a little more than a month before the next election.
>
> Wrong. The delay will be the requirement to have insurance by January 1, 2015, after the next election cycle. The October 1st date is the opening of the exchanges. In other words, the democrats won't have to eat this monstrocity until the 2016 elections, when it will be too late to turn back. The majority of companies will have already abandoned provisions for provided health insurance to their employees, and the only "reasonable" fix will be single payer (socialized medicine). Nice going Republicans.
Ah, but the problem you have is that you don't understand: the Republicans want the corrupt/illegitimate power and tools that the Democrats are using… this is why there has been no vigorous pursuance of the IRS-scandal, the NSA-scandal, the Benghazi-scandal, or the Fast & Furious state-sponsored terrorism incident. It is why, for virtually all of the Republican-party's platform planks, the party never pursues them: financial accountability would force them to relinquish power, lessened tax-burdens (via simplification/normalization of the tax-code) would be surrendering corporate influence and power, illegalizing abortion would mean that they could not use abortion to feed the moral indignation of its base for votes, repeal of the GCA and/or NFA would mean that they could not use the fear of gun-grabbing quite as easily, and so on and so forth.
No, the Republican party perceives that it is best benefited by saying it is against the Democrats, but allowing most of what the Democrats want to pass: in the end, this grants them power, whereas fighting and failing would reduce them to political nothings which is their greatest fear. Thus it is that every Democrat win is really a Republican win, this is
The Tao of Republican Orthodoxy
[Direct Link]

"No, the Republican party perceives that it is best benefited by saying it is against the Democrats, but allowing most of what the Democrats want to pass: in the end, this grants them power, whereas fighting and failing would reduce them to political nothings which is their greatest fear."

I get the concept, I just find it hard to believe that in the event of a GOP controlled legislature and Presidency that we will still see "issue baiting" as your doctrine suggests.

P.S. This political doctrine or "Tao" that you're describing is often studied and referenced in most formal political science classes. It is as old as Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Voltaire, Adam Smith, Thomas Paine and Thomas Hobbes combined. Nothing new, and certainly not an idea that is only recent. It is as old as rational decision making.