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"Shallow Throat" on Obama and GOP Obstructionism
By Bernard Weiner (about the author) Page 2 of 3 page(s)
"But he is starting to get some flack from the progressive wing on these and other matters," I countered. "I'm more interested right now on your insights into how the Republican opposition is behaving."
THE DEARTH OF A GOP VISION
Shallow Throat launched: "The Republicans have no competent national spokesman with the reputation and political smarts to deal effectively with rebuilding the party away from its extremist history of the past few decades. McCain is damaged goods, and is being wooed successfully by Obama in any case. So the remnants of the Cheney/Bush ideologues in the Congress, led by McConnell in the Senate and Boehner in the House, have no guidance and no program other than to play the obstructionist card."
"What else is new?" I replied. "Their candidate didn't have any good, popular ideas to run on for the presidency either and, as a result, McCain failed miserably at the polls. Absent new ideas, can the Republicans be successful in stopping the Obama/Democratic momentum?"
"Well, assuming Obama can't lure enough moderate Republican senators to his side on key votes, the GOP can use their numbers in the Senate to filibuster or threaten to filibuster, making Obama think that he has to compromise on important legislation. That's just out-and-out GOP obstructionism. Shouting 'socialism' isn't an agenda."
"Exactly," I replied. "The voters want government to work for them, and too many Republicans, still in the throes of extremist demagogery, continue talking about 'drowning government in a bathtub' and are desperate enough to look to Sarah Palin for leadership. That's just political suicide."
"In a sense, I certainly hope so," said Shallow Throat. "It could be that the extreme wing will paint the party into such an unelectable corner by the 2010 midterms that mainstream Republicans like me and my friends will finally have enough momentum to drive them out. The extremist/fundamentalist wing might then found its own variant of the Know-Nothing Party while the rejuvenated GOP will be able to put forth a genuine presidential competitor in 2012 to help rebuild the party."
A SLIME STRATEGY
"But," I countered, "wouldn't the GOP's current strategy of obstructionism and sliming Obama and his supporters wherever and however they can -- wouldn't that aid your cause, by weakening Obama for 2012?"
"Maybe," said ST, "but at what cost to the country? We moderate Republicans are not Rush Limbaughs, calling for Obama to fail badly in all his initiatives, even those aimed at rescuing the wrecked economy. We Republicans want to be judged as the better alternative in a healthy, civil contest between two competing ideologies, not appear to be arrogant, my-way-or-the-highway destroyers. We've had quite enough of that kind of politics during the past eight years."
"I think you're hopelessly naive," I said. "The Congressional Republicans, after having their hands on all the goodies of power for the past eight years -- actually, with some exceptions, since the Reagan 1980s -- aren't about to play nice just because they got their asses whooped in the last election. Obama is making a big mistake if he thinks by working with them that they'll abandon their scorched-earth political strategy. These guys play for nothing less than victory, they're not civilized players like you and your moderate GOP buddies."
"Which" said ST, "is precisely why we GOP moderates must in the next several years prepare ourselves for a return to power in the party after the congessional leaders self-destruct with their values-thin, obstructionist approach."
HOW SHOULD PROGRESSIVES BEHAVE?
"And progressive Democrats?" I asked. "How do they fit into the picture?"
"They'll like some of what Obama does," said ST, "mainly in domestic areas, but will feel betrayed in foreign and military policy, especially with regard to Israel/Palestine, Afghanistan and maybe even Iraq. Obama is gambling on their so liking being at the locus of federal power that they won't abandon him. After all, Obama might reason, where else would the Democrat left go? But after decades of compromised, watered-down center-right liberalism, the progressives might just decide to walk and explore founding their own party, perhaps in an alignment with the Greens and disaffected Republican moderates."
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