It is not enough to stop the Democrat/liberal agenda dead in its tracks. Obamacare will be implemented. If Obama appoints two to three more Supreme Court justices like Sotomayor and Kagan, there will be terrible price to pay not for just years but decades. The Constitution will become a meaningless piece of paper.
All they would need to do is not fund the programs and stand up to the leftist threats to “shut down the federal government”. This de-funding stoppage is made much easier due to the fact that the nation is reaching its credit limit. Yes, the reversal of the progressives’ past federal legislative acts would have to wait until we elected a cooperative president and/or veto-proof majorities.
Easier said than done and it would not last for long. We have culture of dependency in this country that will soon pass the 50% mark. We have 54 million on SS, 47 million on Medicare, 60 million on Medicaid (Obamacare will add another 18 million), and 46 million on food stamps. Almost 50% of the population pays no income taxes. And the government controls over 40% of the US economy now, which means any major cuts in spending will affect employment and the economy.
If Congress votes not to fund the programs, the US will operate probably on a continuing resolution. There is no way we will stop funding DOD, our intelligence agencies, etc. And it will signal the Reps political demise in the 2014 midterms. You have to be a lot smarter than just "not fund the programs and stand up to the leftist threats to 'shut down the federal government'"
If Obama does get re-elected, I certainly do want at the very least conservative control of both houses of congress for an Obama lame-duck presidential term, and that may be the most realistic and important goal for right now.
You are making a false choice. I want both and if I had my druthers, I would want control of the WH over control of Congress. The President has veto power, can appoint judges, conduct foreign affairs, and use the executive agencies to do things like secure our border and enforce our immigration laws. He can also rein in out of control agencies like the EPA.
I don’t think George Will has what I described in mind when he wrote his column, though. I think he visualized a bunch of faux conservatives, not tea-party types, in the House and especially in the Senate, still “cooperating” with the democrat executive and judicial branches for another four years. JMHO
George Will is a pompous ass who has lived too long inside the Beltway. He has lost touch with reality. And I find it interesting how pundits on the Left and the Right seem to overlook the 2010 elections, one of the most historic midterms in 75 years.
We will see how electable Obama is in 2012 and whether he is going to be a drag on the Dems. On thing to look for is whether the Dems up for election want to be seen with him during the campaign. Nelson of FL avoided Obama recently when he was in FL. I don't think that Obama can defy the laws of political gravity. 2012 is the Reps election to lose. Once the primaries are over and the GOP can train its guns on Obama and his policies, there will be a different dynamic in play. As long as the election is a referendum on Obama, Obama will lose. He now has a record and hope and change no longer can cut it. Do the American people want four more years of Obama?
“Do the American people want four more years of Obama?”
We are not on different sides; but the whole point the thread was to discuss what conservatives could do if Obama DOES win. Its called discussing a hypothetical - what to do if the worst happens and the guy IS reelected.
So, to answer your question, the only context in which an answer is reasonably made is to first have an answer to the question “As opposed to who?” Undoubtedly, and unfortunantely, because we now have nearly the univeral franchise in this country, the American electorate just might want Obama again in preference to certain opponents that might be nominated to run against him.
There is nothing “false” about discussing the possibility of - “if Obama does get re-elected, I certainly do want at the very least conservative control of both houses of congress for an Obama lame-duck presidential term, and that may be the most realistic and important goal (other than the presidential election contest) for right now.”