David

Karki

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December 10, 2008

The Remaining Republicans and the Power of ‘No’

“If this is to be their end, then I would have it be such an end as to be worthy of remembrance!”

– King Theoden, at the Battle of Helm's Deep, Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers

The above is what should be in the minds of those Republicans who remain when Congress re-convenes in Washington in January. If, after all that has happened, they still cannot find the spine to fight then the Republican Party will deserve its fate – to go the way of the Whigs and die.

There is no one more free than one with nothing left to lose. And lose – repeatedly – by running to the mushy middle and preemptively conceding every liberal precept, is precisely what the GOP has done. If the supposed opposition party cannot find it within themselves even now to come out fighting for conservatism and go down, if that be their fate, at least having done everything in their power to actually oppose that which would destroy what they purport to hold dear, then they are truly contemptible creatures.

There is a simple way to begin this – by discovering the power of saying “No.” Not angrily or spitefully, but firmly, calmly and as often as is necessary. And often will be necessary, if Republicans are to ever regain the mantle of fiscal responsibility they've so utterly squandered over the last eight years.

It takes a long time to rebuild credibility and trust once it's been lost. Only over time, by repeatedly standing against inevitable, frequent Democratic attempts to stage government takeovers of large sectors of the economy – credit, auto industry and health care for starters –  will this begin to occur. Building a record of standing against never-ending bailouts and favoring spending cuts over tax increases to close massive deficits is the only way the GOP can go to voters in 2010 and credibly claim that they've learned their lesson.

And explanations need to be kept short, simple and the same throughout the caucus. A unified message is the only way to cut through the media fog. For example, you oppose the auto industry bailout because taxpayers aren't responsible for the bad decisions of auto executives and the greed of the UAW. You can't demand and receive a raise because you spent recklessly, so why should they? No more detail than that is needed.

Also, this is one of those instances where good policy is good politics. Forcing the Democrats to pass everything they want entirely on their own puts all the responsibility for the deleterious consequences on their shoulders. The GOP should not be foolish enough to sign on to Democratic bills when all the left really wants is a fall guy, allowing them to disingenuously say “See? If only we hadn't had to water it down for the Republicans, it would've worked!”

If the Democrats actually think their ideas will work, they shouldn't hesitate to pass them alone and take all the credit. But as we've already seen with the auto industry bailout, they're not ready to accept that risk. And that in itself is a telling sign.

Finally, this holding firm will serve one more purpose – to identify the dead weight, and to separate the wheat from the chaff.

Who will stand up for a cause bigger than themselves and the next re-election? Who is willing to put it all on the line for principle and who is willing to throw principle away for self-preservation? Is the GOP still the main home for conservatism, or has it become the “We're Just Like The Democrats, Only Not Quite As Much” Party? And which members subscribe to which line of thinking?

No longer will there be a soft middle in which liberal RINOs can hide. The Democrats mean to yank America hard to the left and have the numbers to do it. Supposed Republicans like Sen. Olympia Snowe, Sen. Susan Collins and even Sen. John McCain, who have spent their careers aiding and abetting this, will have to show once and for all where they really stand. Join the filibuster or be votes 58, 59, and 60 to knock down the last remaining defensive fortification. No more “Gang of (Insert Number Here)” grandstanding for “centrism,” because most of the members have been defeated and replaced by liberals.

I submit that if the above senators and others like them still refuse to get on board, then we should at least remove from them the label they've been allowed to hide behind for far too long. They'll have shown where they've really stood all along, and there won't be a substantive change so much as one in honesty.

But tactics, strategy and analysis aside, it all comes back to having the will to just say no. Without that, the rest is all academic.

© 2008 North Star Writers Group. May not be republished without permission.

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