[speekinout]

The problem is that GOP politicians have a very strong tendency to articulate mushy positions that are absolutely indefensible. If the Democrats propose some new $10B/year program that is a just plain Bad Idea, Republicans need to oppose it outright, rather than "compromise" for a $5B/year version.

I'm not really sure what you're referring to. If you're talking about pork, then true, but both sides are equally responsible. The Dems don't object to GOP pork, either.
That's a different issue than philosophical positions,

[supercat]

I'm not really sure what you're referring to. If you're talking about pork, then true, but both sides are equally responsible. The Dems don't object to GOP pork, either. That's a different issue than philosophical positions,

It's the general principle of "compromise", most notable in the (IIRC) 1999 "response" to Clinton's SOTU speech; for each new program Clinton suggested, the Republican spokes-critter offered a "Democrat lite" version, rather than simply stating that any of the proposed programs were simply Bad Ideas. Democrat lite is an absolutely unsupportable position, but it's what Republicans usually seem to take.