Republicans...Get Your Ish Together.



Republicans…Get Your Ish Together!  One of the great ongoing mysteries to many thinking people is how can poll after poll show that the majority of voters agree more with Republican policy than with Democrat policy and yet we continue to see what is essentially a balance in power regarding the House, the Senate, and the Executive?  I am not making a value judgment as to which policy bent is right or wrong, but simply noting reality.  To put it differently, why is it that many folks think like Republicans and vote like Democrats?  Let us discuss some the possibilities.

I think one of the primary reasons would be the Republican penchant for snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.  Specifically, they have a long history of selecting candidates that are clearly not their strongest options.  Democrats do this also, but not nearly to the extent that Republicans do.  This is best illustrated by the 2008 election cycle, which carried Obama into the White House.  It is open to debate among sincere people, but the Republicans had up to six Senate races in which they had very good chances of winning but ended up running someone other than the strongest candidate and instead lost.  This particular election cycle is the one that created the environment that allowed the passage of the Affordable Care Act.  It can certainly be argued that had the Republicans run stronger candidates in a handful of Senate races during that cycle, Obamacare would not have become the law of the land.   Now once again, to be fair, Democrats make this same mistake, but I submit there are many more Sharon Angles than there are Elizabeth Warrens.

Republicans weaken themselves by conducting their family arguments in the most public ways.  It can be argued with merit that internal Republican disputes get more media play than internal Democrat disputes, but that is not the complete explanation and might, in fact, illustrate a Republican marketing weakness and lack of discipline.  A perfect example is the current feud between Speaker Boehner and the Tea Party.  Have you heard more about this than the Liz Warren-Hillary Clinton battle shaping up on the Democratic side?  Of course you have.  Somehow, Ted Cruz is simply more appealing to the mainstream media than Elizabeth Warren, yet he is no more a Republican-radical than she is a Democrat-radical.  It is good that there is internal debate within each party and each party needs the radical fringe to cling in an uncompromising fashion to that party’s principles.  But if the party is to be successful, the argument occurs, the mess is cleaned up, Uncle Joe and Cousin Larry end up hugging each other, and leave the party as friends.  Republicans have a very difficult time burying the hatchet sometimes and that puts them at a distinct disadvantage when it comes down to counting votes.  When one party faction picks up its toys and goes home, refusing to even participate in the game, then that party loses when the national split is as close as it is between the Republicans and the Democrats.  I don’t know if this Republican tendency is systemic or just personal in nature, but it is certainly foolish and counter-productive.  The choices within a party are degrees; the choices between parties are universes.

And finally, as I have addressed before, Republicans too many times insist on bringing knives to gun fights.  Democrats are married to their positions heart and soul and do whatever is necessary to put them in motion; the ends justify the means.  They play to win.  Republicans, on the other hand, while just as dedicated to their principles, can’t decide whether to get down and dirty or play nice.  They do a very poor job of recognizing the difference between the two and when one is required.  Would Al Franken be a U.S. Senator today if the Republicans had brought a Colt instead of a Bowie?  I do not mean to imply that Democrats have a franchise on “win at all costs” tactics; both sides are ethically and morally challenged when it comes to politics.  But the Democrats have clearly mastered that get down to the business of winning much quicker and in a more serious fashion than Republicans.  While promoting the current 2014/2015 budget deal, Paul Ryan recognizes this.  If the Democrats control the Senate and the Executive, the range of possible Republican legislative wins is greatly reduced.  Republicans must do a better job of choosing their battles and once chosen, fighting those battles from day one with their best winning strategy.  The strategy to shut down the government to defund Obamacare was in dire need of a reality check.

I am a strong believer in the two-party system; but I am certainly open to the discussion of a third party.  The recent abject failure to accomplish a meaningful and efficient government has left both parties open to that idea.  But in order for parties to survive, there must be liberal factions that tend towards socialism and conservative factions that tend towards Libertarian positions.  These factions guarantee the survival of the parties.  But these factions cannot be permitted to rule the party; to drown out and override the sentiments of the moderates in each party.  I am not implying that the squishy result of bipartisan moderate compromise is preferred; simply that compromise must occur at some point in order to continue.  I think I am trying to say that the different meats of the Republican and Democrat parties must be seasoned by the moderates of each side before going into the pot that will yield the stew.  If the meat never gets to the pot, we all go hungry.