GOP Split Over Fighting Obama's Every Move

Only days after losing the White House and suffering large defeats in both houses of Congress, the Republican Party is striking a posture of defiance.

Within the past 48 hours, the RNC has sent out memos blasting the president elect for appointing Rahm Emanuel as his chief of staff and hiring David Axelrod to serve an advisory role.

"Barack Obama's first White House hires are hyper-partisan operatives," read a statement from spokesman Alex Conant. "For a President-elect who promised to change the tone in Washington, it's disappointing that he is filling his White House with partisan bomb-throwers."

Additionally, Republicans have put out a press release drawing attention to the fact that the president of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, had congratulated Obama on his victory -- as if it represented a certain brand of foreign policy acquiescence.

Not everyone within the GOP has shared the fight-them-at-every-corner mentality. Craig Shirley, a conservative consultant, argued that the party needed "to start getting about the task of what they are for," and said of the RNC memos, "You got to pick your fights. It is almost like the RNC is in desperate need of adult supervision."

Both Sen. Lindsey Graham and former White House Chief of Staff Ken Duberstein, meanwhile, have praised Emanuel's appointment. Others, including a group of young Republicans, have begun charting out a path to rebuild the party from within -- an avenue that, noticeably, isn't premised on constantly punching at the Obama administration.

And so, the Republican Party seems to be entering a crossroads: either dedicated to contesting every move made by Democrats over the next few years or working on some issues in bipartisan faith while selling itself on a new set of policy proposals. One political scientist described it as such: "they could be the 'hell no' party, or they can be the 'yes and no' party."

It is easy to see what the former strategy looks like. Grover Norquist, speaking to the Huffington Post the day after the election, noted that there is ground to be gained simply by attacking Democratic overreach.

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"Barney Frank is going to be shooting legislation at [Obama], Nancy Pelosi has a backlog of legislation and in her mind she has been waiting for 20 years to push it... the pent up demand to do stuff is going to come out like a machine gun," said Norquist. "The other issue we are going to be for is stopping Obama's tax increases, massive spending program, his takeover of health care... He will create the agenda for the modern right by creating a list of programs that oddly didn't end up in his advertisements."

The "yes and no" strategy, however, is a bit more difficult to define. House Minority Leader John Boehner tried his hand in today's Washington Post by saying the GOP would "pledge to work with President-elect Barack Obama when it is in the best interest of our nation." But from there he struck a tone of defiance: "America is still a center-right country. This election was neither a referendum in favor of the left's approach to key issues nor a mandate for big government."

Conservative writer Ramesh Ponnuru took a stab of his own in a column in Friday's New York Times arguing that the GOP had to make a pledge to the middle class instead of positioning itself as strict anti-Democrats.

"The way to court these moderates is not to abandon social conservatism, which would alienate many of the voters Republicans still have. The party needs to "move to the middle" less than it needs to move to the middle class: to go back to representing the interests of voters in the middle of the income spectrum."

But the question is, how much of the party is willing to make the commitment that Ponnuru outlines? Part of the issue, another strategist told the Huffington Post, is that John McCain's campaign only heightened the schisms within the GOP. Those who believe in ideological purity and political combativeness will see the Arizona Republican's failed bid as a justification for their posture. Obama's win, in turn, becomes a failure of tactics as much as philosophy (if he had only used Reverend Wright!).

This, Shirley argues, would be the wrong interpretation -- one that could potentially damage the GOP for years to come.

"There is a third way, that is that neither the 'hell no' side or the 'yes we will work with you' side, would be to offer our own ideas and proposals and legislation and all within a framework of a conservative governing philosophy," he said. "And you see it now in the post campaign fight between the McCain staffers and Palin. It is all reductionism. It is all attack, attack, attack. The campaign is over. They can't go after Obama so they go after Palin. At some point, Republicanism has been defined in many ways as always being against things. We need to be for something."

Comments

[misty1]

Well its obvious that the republicans don't get it so here it is. They can oppose Obama at every
turn all that will do is make him win a second term If the republicans think that Obama won't
come and tell the american people who did what and why certain legislation is not being passed or
held up I think they are wrong. I think the same way John McCain said in his speech that he would
name some names and make them famous so will Obama I don't think he will take the hit
if the republicans try to stonewall him on legislation or try to derail him being president.
The republicans should try to get along with the Dems or duck when the next press conference
hits. Think about this please.

[redsongia]

So lame. Who is Obama supposed to appoint? Rush Limbaugh?

Yes, guess what, he's going to pursue a democratic agenda, that's why he worked his @22 off for 2 years to win the election.

And PS, that's what he promised the voters, and that's what the voters chose.

[moonseeker]

It only goes to show how chronically stupid the GOP is. They still haven't learned. Even though their mean-sprited attacks were the primary thing that sunk the McCain campaign they are still too blind to see the error of their ways. I suppose we should all thank GOP for being so stupid. If they keep this up, then expect another landslide defeat in 2012.

[keysbreezin]

The Republicans are crying? Who gives a ****? They're obsolete now and hopefully will be for years and years to come. They had 8 years and all but flushed the constitution down the toilet, Did flush the economy and we are only now starting to a see glimmer of normalization and desire by world leaders to negotiate in good faith.

[ShinjiIkari]

The simple fact is, there's been an earthquake, and some Republicans are angry because the country no longer looks like the good old reliable map.

What they ought to be doing is redrawing the map to reflect the new realities. If they want to keep pretending that Regan's politics and Adam Smith's economics are all you need to survive in the 21st century, then go ahead and let them think that. Reality will thwap them upside the head soon enough.

[ffejretsof]

The Republicans can cry all they want. When you lose the youth vote, the African American vote, and the Latino voted (the fastest growing parts of the population), you obviously have nothing to say. Let them continue on the road they have chosen and we won't see another Republican resurgence for years to come.

[yerachm]

It slays me when Republicans talk about Obama wanting "big government­." The two presidents who talked the loudest about downsizing government, Reagan and Dubya, expanded government - and government debt - more than any other president in modern history.
To Orwell's list of "War is Peace; Freedom is Slavery; Ignorance is Strength," we may now add "Republican Big is Little [but Democrat Big is Big]."

[kbrophy]

The republicans are upset! No kidding? They have been in control for 8 painful years and now that they have lost control, they struggle. If they are to survive as a party ( who really cares ? ) they need to be smart and hatch a plan..... a smart one,,,,, like the dems did with Obama, Get smart, and get a plan. Meanwhile, suffer like the rest of us did during the bushy years. We survived it,barely.­.. but it will take everyONE to fix whats broken and it won't happen fast so hold on tight because the ride has just begun!!!

[nanners0808]

the republican party needs to get real and get CLEAN and sober.

1) i would suggest that they first make it clear to their constituency that obama is not a terrorist, scary, bad person. this would do well to gain some moral legitimacy back in the eyes of all of the republicans and independents that they pushed away.

2) stop the up is down talk i.e. saying that things are one way when they are so obviously not to the majority of the US. they've lost their credibility with this strategy

after that ... get a plan together, a real and detailed plan for how you are going to help americans, all americans. just saying smaller government, no taxes, we'll keep you safe against the big bad world over and over again won't work anymore! americans see through your scare tactics. prove to the american people that you are actually trying to better the people in this country and not just the republican party "elite" members pocketbooks.

[nanners0808]

prescient articles from 2005 by david w. orr

The Imminent Demise of the Republican Party - part I
http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0112-36.htm

The Imminent Demise of the Republican Party - part II
http://www.commondreams.org/views05/1102-26.htm

[mulishmissourian]

Thanks so much for access to these articles. They highlight why I would find it difficult to vote for any Republican candidate either nationally or locally. The leaders of the Republican party appear to be clinging to what has worked politically in the past century. We may have gotten off to a rocky start, but I have faith that more and more Americans will look to the foundations of this country and learn to work together for "the common good".

[DofG]

There's a saying- "A wise man can pretend to be a fool, but a fool cannot pretend to be wise!"

This is the plight that the Republican Party finds itself. They have been using the force of negativism, and divisive politics for so long that they don't know how to do anything else. This is what ultimately did in Clinton's and McCain's campaigns. They thought they could gain something "positive" for themselves by calling the "darker angels" of the American psyche. But George Bush, over eight years, had exhausted that approach, combine with self-education, and economic circumstances, that matured most Americans' response to wedge issues. And after all that, here they are still trying to use the same archaic playbook for a game that no longer exist!

"When you encounter someone greater than yourself, turn your thoughts to becoming his equal. When you encounter someone lesser than you, look within and examine your own self"- Confucius

Those darker minds within the Republican Party won't do that, because they cannot pretend to be wise!

[NotBeatenYet]

Gee guys, you mean we're not playing fair?

You need a good pity party -- then you'll feel better.

It's gonna be a long time before you're in power again. Get used to it.

[rosal]

Keep thinking the country is "moderate-right" and you'll continue losing elections. This people doesn't seem to learn lessons. They think that hate and conflict win votes, when they will ever learn?

[darthmaul]

Striking a defiant tone, and being huffy with Obama, just won't work. This man has shown himself to be cool and calm under intense pressure. The republicans if they throw a fit, will come off looking as small children throwing a temper tantrum. This will just compound the damage to their party.

[winnie47]

The Republican Party is about to self destruct. President Obama needs to quickly build bridges with the moderate Republicans, and get them aboard with him. He needs to remind them that there is yet another election in two years, and America has made it pretty clear that they're tired of Hatfield and McCoy politics. Any Republican that wishes to survive needs to be willing to work in a bipartisan fashion. At the same time, Pelosi and Reid need to realize that the election was not a mandate for radical leftie politics. The country wants a more active government, but not a welfare state.