Saturday, May 17, 2008

The Republican 2012 Game Plan

From the I don't know what I'm talking about files, Pam Spaulding opines on what Republicans really want.

I think they want Obama to win the White House and the Dems to have strong control on the Hill. (Emphasis hers)

For the record, I'll state right now that I don't want the Democrats to own Congress and the presidency at the same time because they'll consider this a mandate for all their batshitty ideas from the war in Iraq to domestic spending to taxes to judges.

Some are arguing why we should vote for John McCain over Democrats, but the issues have always been clear to me: the war in Iraq is too important to lose and judges will make all the other decisions we care about. Those two reasons alone make it imperative that John McCain hold the veto pen over Democrat looniness.

Spaulding and a lot of other liberals overestimate the thinking of the GOP leadership at this point. I can't see any great "plan" to revive the Republican name brand at this point. Part of the problem is that most GOP faithful like President Bush and agree with him on a majority of his proposals. That's not to say they haven't protested big government expansions like the prescription drug benefit or revolted against amnesty for illegal aliens, but on issues that matter most to conservatives--taxes, moral issues like embryonic stem cell research, the military, judges--President Bush has been right.

The other part of the problem is that eight years with one president makes the electorate weary and open to even the idiotic ideas espoused by the Left. That's why HopeNChange is the Democrat candidate: it isn't his qualifications, it's the fact that he's not the establishment.

There's also been a lot of talk about Howard Dean's 50 state plan and how effective it has been. What is amazing isn't that Democrats have picked up seats that were considered Republican safehouses, but that the Democrats who have run have been far more conservative--and blue dog--than the Democrats that have been running Congress. This is why Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid have been unable to enact any of their nuttiness.

In the end, I'm betting Americans are smart enough not to elect a leftwing radical with little experience and horrible ideas.