The thing I simply can not figure out about the GOP is why they just don’t lay low for a little bit. That really is their best alternative, despite the fact that the fringe is screaming “OPPOSE! OPPOSE! OPPOSE!”
First off, the scare tactics about socialism and government take-overs and blah blah blah just is not going to work. People are scared of something bigger and badder- the economy. Besides, didn’t you just run an entire losing campaign where the only discernable message was that Obama may or may not be a terrorist, or at the very least, pals around with terrorists? Clearly the message is not taking.
Second, you just admitted you have no ideas and have frittered away a good bit of time focusing on the news cycle rather than policy, why not take a few months off? You don’t have the numbers to stop Obama’s legislation right now, and he will always be able to peel off one or two Republicans in the Senate unless he dramatically over-reaches, so why not just sit back and be quiet? Let your members vote their conscience, politely object when you object, and quit with the unified front nonsense. Knee-jerk opposition is not an idea, it is a reaction. Just sit back and keep a low profile, and let the Democrats own their actions for the next couple of months. That is what happened anyway, isn’t it? You had a hissy fit over the stimulus, looked like idiots, and the WORSTEST MOST AWFUL BIGGEST GINORMOUS PORKULOUS MONSTROSITY passed anyway, didn’t it? Not only did Obama get what he wanted, but you looked like kids in the process. Sure, the base loved it, but here is a hint- they are your base. They are not going to vote for Democrats in 2010 anyway.
Third, quite frankly, the public thinks you suck right now, and your recent stunt during the stimulus debate made things worse. The 2008 election was, if nothing else, the population giving you all a richly deserved time-out to go think about what you have done. What you are doing right now is akin to a young brat throwing a tantrum on the way to his room after being grounded. Guess what? That little snit might be internally satisfying, but there will still be no ice cream for you tonight.
Finally, time is the only thing on your side. You don’t have a winning organization, you don’t have any real leadership, your fundraising efforts have to be down, and you have no ideas. But you do have time, and plenty of it. This economy is not going to get better anytime soon, and if the Krugmans of the world are right, this administration is not being bold enough to really get a bottom on this market and end the financial turmoil. Additionally, lamely trotting out folks like Jindal to go all Jimmy Swaggart and tell us you have “strayed” and to forgive us for your sins isn’t going to cut it. “Just words”- remember that?
So take advantage of it. Instead of throwing spitballs all day and making the public hate you even more, open a book. Think about what went wrong and how you can stop it from happening again. Come up with real ideas to lead the country into the future. But most of all, if you ever want to be the majority again, stop spending every waking moment reminding everyone in the country why we hate you so damned much. Sarah Palin has figured this out and has disappeared herself to an undisclosed location (aka Alaska). Why can’t you guys take the hint?
mantis
Republicans react to your advice.
Snail Darter
A few weeks at the Hotel California could do wonders.
trizzlor
There was a feature in Harper’s a while back discussing how Republicans can get back on track, and the theme was – if your main platform is that you hate government, the public is just going to stop electing you to government positions. This becomes doubly true once people realize you can’t even be trusted to hold that measly position.
I keep wracking my brain for Republican ideas that would resonate, but I just feel like the party is completely outdated: people seem to have accepted that government plays an important role in our society, and with that in mind, the democrats appear to have the most sensible proposals. The only role I see for the Republicans in the future is as some kind of fringe watchdog group that keeps the Democrats in charge honest.
Just Some Fuckhead
Good advice, John. But what’s the endgame? To get in a position to break the fucking world again? If so, your advice sucks and you do too.
Napoleon
Because it is a reactionary party of loons, including their officeholders, who are at an extreme fringe of society that can’t believe we have a librul n****r in the white house.
Snail Darter
Word has it she is holed up in a Wassila Salloon watching looping re-runs of Bedtime For Bonzo and sending desperate telegrams to Iranian Mullahs.
demkat620
Because of this guy
This is their whole base. Inchoate rage. That is all they have.
John Cole
@demkat620: I never understood that guy. YOU JUST RAN THE GOVERNMENT FOR EIGHT YEARS AND DID WHATEVER YOU WANTED. WHY ARE YOU SO MAD STILL?
And the DOW was at 9200 then. I bet he is just berserk now.
Anoniminous
The pre-conditions for deriving new ideas are:
1. Open Mindedness
2. The intellectual tools and an understanding of how to use those tools
3. Correct grasp of the sitz-im-leben
Conservatives fail on all three.
Snail Darter
A secret tape exists proving liberals aborted Reagan 2.0/
demkat620
@John Cole: That is a question that needs answered.
Think back to when Bush won re-election in ’04. The Republicans held both houses. Complete control. And yet, the base of the party was angrier than ever. Why?
Rush Limbaugh went on rants to tell Democrats to shut up. We heard elections have consequences everyday. They took every opportunity to stick the knife in.
Upperdown vote. Rage over judges. Why?
jenniebee
Frankly, these guys have done such a bang-up job of proving that they have no interest in good-faith dealings that the best thing they can do is find an abandoned off-shore oil rig, mount a surplus cannon on it, declare it a sovereign power, and see how long it takes them to sink that country, too.
Atanarjuat
@Just Some Fuckhead:
You should cut Mr. Cole some slack, Fuckhead. I suspect that deep inside, there’s a Republican dying to re-emerge.
And why not? Conservatism is a natural equilibrium attained by most independent, free-thinking human beings. Mr. Cole, being a clear thinker himself, feels that the GOP is in disarray. Hence his continual criticism of their actions, balanced with heartfelt, constructive advice, as evidenced in this post.
-A
shecky
I feel the same. It seems the GOP feels an undeniable urge to somehow be proactive, even if they can’t think of any good ideas to be proactive about. As a result, all they can do is flail about.
Advice for the GOP: steal a page from the Obama playbook, and just STFU. He was very good at doing one thing: letting the opposition hang themselves. Wait for Obama to wane in the polls, let the afterglow fade out, as is bound to happen. Then go on the attack, following the mood of the day. Not making yourself out to be an asshole does wonders for one’s image. Unfortunately, the GOP is deep into making themselves out to be assholes at every opportunity.
Ned R.
Apropos of nothing but kinda related — I decided to step over (carefully) to Hugh Hewitt’s blog for the first time in a long while and was kinda bemused by the sight. The patronizing response to the speech I expected, the absence of any mention of Jindal was amusing, the fact that his only two posts today so far were on CPSIA (?) was odd.
But the funniest thing I noticed was that he’s disabled comments entirely at some point — now if he had never had them, that would be one thing, but he did for a while and while true believers abounded, I’d place a guess nearly over half if not more regularly trashed him, and were often coming from a "I’m a conservative and you’re out of your goddamn mind and your prediction skills suck" viewpoint, sometimes insultingly crazy in turn, sometimes just frustrated with his bizarre disconnected assumptions.
I’m sure he posted some explanation somewhere, I’m not bothering to check, but I suspect he basically got tired of being regularly laughed at on his own turf.
John Cole
@shecky: Obama’s greatest weapon is his ability to drive his opponent insane. The way they drove the Clinton campaign and her supporters into madness (some of them still have never recovered) was breathtaking. And the Republicans learned nothing from that.
I honestly half think Obama has no intention of ever doing anything with the fairness doctrine, but is quite content to every couple of weeks let a rumor surface and then have a surrogate somewhat bat it down, just to keep driving these guys nuts. Then, after it has run its course, he will probably instruct the FCC to change ownership rules, but not really resurrect the fairness doctrine. By then, they will be so united in opposition to the fairness doctrine they won’t be able to pivot in time to mount an opposition to the FCC rules changes.
Jab, jab, jab, head fake, jab, right hook. KO. No one saw it coming when it was right there in front of them.
Anoniminous
In all seriousness …
Who is the foremost US Conservative intellectual?
Snail Darter
@Atanarjuat:
Alas, damning with faint praise. Even the spoofs are triangulating these days/ A sign of strange days ahead.
Joshua Norton
I’m guessing it’s still William F. Buckley.
Dennis-SGMM
In all seriousness, the Republicans worked for years at turning the word "intellectual" into a pejorative.
HRA
It’s a good analysis except for one sentence.
"They are not going to vote for Democrats in 2010 anyway."
No. In the presidential election, Republicans not only voted for Obama, they also donated to his campaign. Why would you think a Republican is unable to chose a candidate of another party?
Incertus
@John Cole: It’s because they’re losing what they feel is their rightful place at the top of the food chain. The last eight years wasn’t so much anger as it was douchebaggery. What we’re seeing now is the same kind of anger that we saw Limbaugh fuel in 1992 when Clinton beat Bush. Clinton wasn’t supposed to do that–he ruined all their plans by beating Poppy, and they impeached him for it. Now they’ve not only lost the Presidency, they’ve lost even more ground in the Congress and they can’t handle the fact of their own irrelevancy, so they’re mad now.
gwangung
Most vital and lively, too.
Incertus
@HRA: The Republicans who voted for an donated to Obama’s campaign aren’t the people being talked about here. The ones who aren’t voting Democratic in 2010 are the hardcore people that Jindal, Steele, Cantor and Palin are all trying to appeal to.
Snail Darter
The Bee and The Butterfly
Bee- Dazzle your colors butterfly and I will introduce myself unbeknownst.
Butterfly- Watch my wings flutter, I am alone.
Rome Again
If they let up for one moment, the evil of this world will pick that one particular moment to turn to full throttle outright socialism.
Anoniminous
(Must eat pizza. Must drink beer. Will return.)
Rome Again
Whoops, I made a soshulism remark and forgot to spell it wrong, it’s in moderation now, please forgive me.
ETA: Nevermind, that was some fast moderation there. ;)
Conservatively Liberal
Trying to find one would be as productive as searching for a dodo.
Mike in NC
Because the madness has made Limbaugh, Savage, Malkin, Coulter, Hewitt, Goldberg and Hannity filthy rich. That cannot be allowed to change. Ever.
Mazacote Yorquest
Hey, GOP, an argument is an intellectual process, not the automatic gainsaying of whatever the other person says:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3HaRFBSq9k
Dennis-SGMM
And the governance of the United States will be handed over to the UN, they’ll put fluoride in our water, rock-and-roll will cause teenage pregnancies, pot smokers will kill their moms…
For the six decades of my life the same type of people have been protecting us from invented threats.
mortimer brewster
I think it’s the press and the Village. Losing the public is painful enough, but the thought of losing the Mighty Wurlitzer must drive the Republicans crazy. Repubs have been out of the majority before, in the early 1990s, but the noise machine and the wingnut welfare engine ran steadily that whole time, providing the morale and the momentum for an eventual resurgence. Those mechanisms have been running since the seventies, and the thought of letting them wind down must be nigh-unthinkable by now.
If Republicans adopt a low profile, how are they going to fill airtime in an entertaining manner? If they don’t fill the airtime, they will be replaced by someone who does. And, as people who have spent years enjoying the marginalization of Democrats in the press, Republicans know very well how hard it is to get your card back into CNN’s Rolodex after it’s fallen out.
So those Republicans who are still in the limelight are inspired to try crazier and crazier tactical gambits in order to stay there. Unfortunately for them, even if you’re really good at tactics they don’t substitute for strategy forever.
Rome Again
@Dennis-SGMM:
exactly. ;)
HRA
Thanks, Incertus.
It’s difficult for me to believe anyone would support Jindal, Steele, Cantor and Palin. Oh oh! I take it back. I did hear DeLay on Hardball.
Svensker
Nope, they’re not gonna do it. Why? Because they don’t think they’ve done anything wrong. They weren’t wacky ENOUGH. They didn’t preach loud ENOUGH. They didn’t hate ENOUGH. They didn’t say SOCIALIST TERRORIST-LOVER ZOMG often ENOUGH.
Before they can take your advice, they really need to spiral down to the depths where they’re staggering around the streets with urine dribbling down their legs and shit-caked pants. Then maybe they’ll get lucky and someone will do an intervention on their asses, they’ll head off to rehab for a while, then into the Repub 12-Step Program (Step #1: Admit you’re an asshole). They’ve still got a loooooooong way to go.
eastriver
Everyone, for a scary couple of minutes, go look at the comments after the link above in OPPOSE!.
Some scary muthafuckin’ shit. True tinfoil lunacy.
Peak wingnut is a hypothetical thing to be wished. There is no bottom.
kommrade reproductive vigor
No can do. Bush took all available copies of My Pet Goat for his Prezidential Liberry.
Svensker
@eastriver:
You ain’t just whistlin’ Dixie. Or maybe you are. Those people are scary nutty.
AnneLaurie
Knowing when to lie low is what separates the professional grifter from the mere amateur confidence man. Palin’s recent failure to join the WATB Rethug chorus makes me suspect she’ll be a real challenger for Newt Gingrich in the 2012 (2016, 2020, 2024… ) presidential nomination process.
As for the chorus itself, most of the jagoffs leaking tears & spittle for the cameras think a "long-range time frame" is maybe a week, ten days at most — just like the Media Village Idiots so eagerly encouraging them to new depths. The good of the Party would better be served by a little discrete STFU, but Darwinian outliers like Boehner, McConnell & Jindal only get to hog the spotlight right now because the smarter competitors have chosen to sit this clusterfvck out. Even the most optimistic FauxNews talking hairdo was never going to call Michelle Bachman or Eric Cantor "presidential material", so why shouldn’t these sad-arsed examples of humanity grab their 15 seconds of FAME while there’s nobody stronger around to challenge them?
Andre
I’ve always liked J.S. Mill’s quip:
shortstop
That was a really ravishing rant, Cole. I’m smacking my lips.
jcricket
@trizzlor: Oh how I wish this were true. If the GOP insists that government is, per se, the problem, then one could only hope the only people that vote for them are those few that think the government should be abolished.
But, I think the GOP will still have more success than it deserves because Democrats have done a terrible job articulating the positive/affirmative case for government intervention.
Obama is just starting to rectify that, bless his heart. I can only hope other Democrats take his lead, and stop hiding. Don’t just defend your positions when attacked. Get out there and make the case for higher, more progressive taxes. For better regulation. For government-enforced environmental policies that we need to deal with climate change. We need to stop being ashamed, since we’re right, and the people already agree with us.
Rome Again
@Andre:
My father would have if he were alive.
gnomedad
@John Cole:
Meep, meep. Also.
Ella in NM
Will I end up suffering—again—the punishment of Karma if I say that the quality of Tom Delay’s discourse on Hardball with Chris Matthews today particularly demanded that he be run over in the parking lot after his appearance ?
And that Chris M.., with his disgusting, amoral man-crush on a guy/loser/sociopath who he thinks has balls but is merely a criminal, also deserves a Karmic cumuppance?
Just wondering, cause, it seems like the standards for "Karma backlash" for me consist of mearly having a mean thought in my head. So to go further, even visualizing an anonymous someone begging for mercy or painkillers or O2 and having a very liberal Black EMT in the ambulance with him tell him to STFU might result in me losing my ATM card or getting another speeding ticket or my Capital One Care credit line being cut or something.
So I wouldn’t want to tempt the gods with my evil, violent and vengeful thoughts because, frankly , I’ve had way too much bad luck lately.
Rome Again
@Ella in NM:
IOKIYAR
;)
Phoebe
You people are giving Palin way too much credit. She couldn’t take the ridicule, knew that if she opened her mouth again there would only be more, and so has hunkered down. Rush is a bully, but nobody is accusing him of actually being a moron or psycho, just wrong and mean. Palin is both of those, but is made fun of by the wider world for being also flat-out stupid. That’s much much harder to take than wrong-and-mean, particularly when you really cannot hold your own. She has no option.
Also, Rush never puts himself in a position where he is directly confronted by anyone other than a dittohead. He can keep spewing endlessly from his lair, alone with the mic, and is never in the hot seat. He could never be a politician.
TenguPhule
Actually even that is working against them.
Most of them are old.
Hopefully many of them will drop dead soon and leave the world a better place.
Rome Again
@Phoebe:
Something tells me Sarah Palin made a phone call to Bobby Jindal today to say "See? It wasn’t just me, that dirty liberal media is railroading Republicans".
I can only smile when I think of the stupidity.
wilfred
You know, can we just agree that the Republicans are a pathetic bunch of stupid motherfuckers determined to destroy their party with inexplicable, senseless and ultimately useless opposition, thus dooming our country to the one party rule we all say we don’t want and which will effectively end American democracy? You’re starting to act as if opposition to the bill is a sign of mental derangement – or does that depend on political orientation.
There are lots of good crisis blogs out there, some written by Democrats who – GASP! – oppose the stimulus bill and who give good, qualified judgements on why they do – here are 4:
http://ashizashiz.blogspot.com/
http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/
http://theautomaticearth.blogspot.com/
http://market-ticker.denninger.net/
Last is Karl Denninger’s.
Mike D.
Problem is, when they do come back in earnest it will be behind new leadership, and the current "leadership" damn well knows it. So they figure they might as well get their freak on while they’re still in town.
Chuck Butcher
John C the idea that a timeout might serve them well would be accurate other than one inconvenient thing in regard to the House, re-election campaigns start the day after election. Challengers to incumbents that aren’t out there at that time working under the radar making connections and building a sort of underground aren’t serious.
If I wanted to try the OR CD2 again, I’d be showing my face in all the little meetings and talking to every pol of whatever size that might support me – now. Never showing at this date as a candidate but as someone who cares and asks questions and builds a subconsciousness of my name so that when it shows in a campaign there is a recognition with a favorable emotion under it. Short of huge national interest in the contest you cannot out raise or out resource an incumbent and incumbents know that keeping their name out there is that free media advantage that’s horrid hard to beat. The campaign coffers need the constant little flow in the first year and the assuaging of the biggies.
What they’ve got is stupid, I agree, but they can’t forego the earned media exposure. I don’t see this country rolling in roses in spring 2010, so gloves may come off in a real serious way from challengers. It would be my bet that there are still a few House Districts that can be picked off and some 2010 Senators have to be shitting bricks right now. "God help me if Obama’s stuff starts working and he keeps being liked," has to be one of their foremost thoughts at this point. You’ve noted it yourself in this respect, Obama isn’t playing to the Congressional Republicans – he’s working the voters and right now he’s gold.
For some damn reason, Greg Walden (R-OR2) is popular, he’s a shitty speaker, he reliably votes the party line, he keeps his head down in DC, and other than guns doesn’t represent the interests of OR2’s general populace in the least. I’d say that as long as he wants the seat picking him off is at least a 4 year project capped by lots of money in the last 1 1/2. Not going to happen, the seat ain’t that important. You’ll hear little from Greg, because all he can do is hurt himself, he’ll let the rest of them do the dirty work.
neil
On a related subject. I realize that John is not embarrassed of his affiliation with Pajamas Media, so I won’t ask if he is embarrassed by the ridiculous ‘tea party’ banner on the left side of his page. I do, however, want to ask whether he’s embarrassed that it appears three times in a row.
Seriously, just get rid of that shit. What are they going to do, fire you?
Chris Andersen
Over on the Next Right I advised Patrick that the GOP should skip the "party of NO" stuff and instead become the party of "Yes, But".
Chris Andersen
@Anoniminous:
Seriously, right now, you’d probably find more cogent conservative ideas among Democrats than you would Republicans.