Change Is Needed, Not A Retention Of The Status Quo

Late last week, we brought this to our readers' collective attention. The new minority party in the House--the GOP--is moving forward very quickly with new leadership elections. Captain Ed brings to our attention a Robert Novak piece that examines this completely idiotic move on the part of the GOP:

The depleted House Republican caucus, a minority in the next Congress, convenes at 8 a.m. in the Capitol Friday on the brink of committing an act of supreme irrationality. The House members blame their leadership for tasting the bitter dregs of defeat. Yet, the consensus so far is that, in secret ballot, they will re-elect some or all of those leaders.

In private conversation, Republican members of Congress blame Majority Leader John Boehner and Majority Whip Roy Blunt in no small part for their midterm election debacle. Yet, either Boehner, Blunt or both are expected to be returned to their leadership posts Friday. For good reason, the GOP often is called "the stupid party."

While an unpopular Iraq war and an unpopular George W. Bush were primary causes of last Tuesday's Republican rout, massive public disapproval of the Republican-controlled Congress significantly contributed. While abandoning conservative principles, the spendthrift House had become chained to special corporate interests represented by K Street lobbyists.

This malaise is embodied in the avuncular Speaker J. Dennis Hastert, whose consistent response to accusations of failed leadership has been 20-minute lectures to closed-door party conferences pleading for Republican unity. As expected, Hastert is leaving the leadership now that the party is in the minority. But his departure leaves the other leaders in place, with their colleagues reluctant to turn them out.

That reluctance is typified by Rep. Eric Cantor, a 43-year-old third-term congressman from Richmond, Va., who has been his party's chief deputy whip for four years since being appointed by Blunt after only two years in Congress. His voting record is solidly conservative, and he belongs to the conservative Republican Study Committee (RSC). At the same time, Cantor is well regarded in all sectors of the party, which see him as the principled kind of rising politician that Republicans desperately need.

The point that Mr. Novak makes regarding Eric Cantor is that his loyalty to Rep. Blunt trancends the necessity for change. Change is needed if the GOP is to regain the House and Senate in two years, and they are not listening to their base. Bloggers have been shrieking about this now for the last five days, or so, and they are being completely ignored.

So what are we supposed to do? NZ Bear has set up a page with questions that bloggers have offered up to these candidates. We are not happy that John Shadegg is not striving for the minority leader's position. He tried the first time around after the departure of Tom DeLay, and did not win. He has decided to settle for a whip position instead, which will help little if the people elected are from the status quo that cost us the House in the first place.

Hugh Hewitt made a point in the campaign prior to the midterms that we need "party men" in positions of power in congress. That means that we needed people who would put the party ahead of petty interests. But it seems that those in the House cannot seem to grasp that concept. They want to return to their heady days of lobbyist money and perks, and refuse to acknowledge that the party must mend it's wayward strategy.

If this does go down with these people, that is if they do not listen to their base, we are going to be stuck with a choice that has not only walked away from the conservative roots of Ronald Reagan, but also the strategy that netted them the House in 1994. That was a back breaking win for the GOP which totally shocked the Democrats. I believe it was Tom Brokaw who stated that America had thrown a "temper-tantrum" that year in tossing the Democrats from forty years of power in the House. The Republicans were on the receiving end of the tantrum thrown this year, and it is evident that they cannot seem to return to the roots that the party believes in; smaller government, controlling the spending, less taxes, a strong military, etc.

The status quo has lost its way. It is putting its own self-interests above that of the party, and that is a serious misstep that could cost them the elections coming up in 2008 before the election season even gets started. The biggest drawback that they are not even contemplating is what will happen if they continue down this path. The base abandoned them this year. Many Republicans, like the three of us here, voted for GOP candidates willingly because we understood the necessity of keeping both chambers of Congress. But what will happen if they do not listen to the base? Their voters will not be there in 2008 for them. Or, the base will revolt in the primaries, tossing many longtime House members from office.

Before these brain-dead, stupid-mistake-driven-idiots go forward with their elections, they would be wise to observe how the base is reacting to this announcement of the elections. We are not happy, and when we get this way, the party tends to take lumps of the worst sort. Gone are the days of being polite with the party if it keeps this up. It is time to be as blunt as possible. So we are encouraging our readers here in the States to be blunt. Call your representatives and tell them to hold off on these elections until they have hgad a chance to digest the extrapolations from the election. They need to see where they went wrong before retreating to their closed-door election. If they do not, then the party is done for 2008.

Marcie