You have to hand it to the Republicans. They are good. They know how to act as an opposition party. They have extreme party loyalty. When the Borg Queen, er ah, the Republican Leadership issues their orders, the foot soldiers all fall in line. They stick to one failed idea and ideology, and are damn proud to go in front of every camera, or go on every news show to proclaim it. There is no individual reflection. There is no dissent, except that they should stick to their ideology even more.
That strength is also their greatest weakness. For now that party unity is thwarting President Obama’s efforts to pass a bipartisan stimulus bill. You Republicans reading this are probably saying to yourselves: good! But take a step and look at the larger political picture. But loudly declaring their opposition, and taking all procedural steps available to them to block the bill, it is not President Obama’s failure to be bipartisan, it is the Republican Party’s. Indeed, with President Obama reaching out to the Republicans in a very public manner, from putting three Republicans in his cabinet (which is unprecedented), to meeting with both the House and Senate Republican caucuses, to having Republican lawmakers over to the White House countless times for dinner and cocktails, the mantle of bipartisanship will belong to Obama even if the bill passes without a single Republican vote. And likewise, the mantle of obstruction belongs to the GOP.
Obama’s Presidency will ride on whether the economy gets moving again. And to me, the smarter thing for the Republicans to do from a political standpoint is quietly oppose the bill on principle, yet allow the President to get his legislative victory. Thus, if the bill fails to stimulate the economy, the failure is on Obama and the Democrats, while the Republicans can then loudly say “We told you so.” Instead, now if the stimulus bill is delayed, or even if it fails to pass, any further economic downturn is on their heads. And it will be President Obama who can say “I told you so.”
So I give props to the GOP. You’re good, but perhaps this time you are too good for your own good.