Kevin Price
In spite elections, GOP has its work cut out with tea party
By Kevin Price
House Republican leader John Boehner (and soon, the new Speaker of the House) is working hard to become the poster boy for the Tea Party. In recent months Boehner has emphasized lowering spending to 2008 levels and restoring the Bush tax cuts. This message resonates with voters and has President Barack Obama so nervous that he is actually campaigned in Boehner's state as if the Ohio Congressman was a candidate for President. With the Republican leader will becoming the new Speaker of the House, Obama is trying to set the stage of what future battles will look like.
In spite of the enormous GOP wins in the House and Senate, the consensus from most pollsters and pundits is that this election will be a referendum against the democrats and not a rally for the Republicans. If that is true, the GOP will only have two short years to convince voters to invest future votes, and the White House in particular, into the Republican Party.
That means Republicans are going to have to understand that the Tea Party is not merely critical of the Democrats' approach to economic policy, but is also angry at the members of the GOP that have supported a gradual approach to socialism. This is the same type of spending that has no support in the Constitution and gives the left its justification for going all the more further in its agenda. The rationale is simple...illegal spending is illegal spending, regardless of the amount. You might as well go for the maximum if you are going to pursue it at all. That is the one area that rank and file conservatives have been most upset about when it comes to the GOP. Many believe that the Democrats, with their horrible agendas, are at least honest about their intentions. They are socialists and progressives, and are largely proud of it. Many in the GOP are also, but try to convince voters they have no stomach for the very spending they consistently support.
John Boehner notes that "People are demonstrating and attending town hall meetings because...'we're in the midst of a political rebellion in America.'" I know the Congressman would love to put himself in the "us" side of the classic "us vs. them" conflict. Sorry Mr. Boehner, you are "them." You supported President Bush's bailout in September 2008 and many see you as a convert of convenience when it comes to the proper role of government today.
Boehner indicated that he attended a tea party over Labor Day weekend last year near his West Chester, Ohio home that drew 18,000 people. He says the crowd told members of Congress that "enough is enough." The thing I do not think that he and many of his GOP colleagues understand is that the comments are directed to both sides of the aisle in Congress. If the shoe fits, Mr. Boehner, by all means wear it. We are not looking for lip service, but repentance for being a captain on a slow boat to socialism. The voters who shook up the Congress in 2010 do not want socialism at all, no matter how fast or slow you get there.
Candidates who have supported the worst forms of socialism in recent years (such as TARP and bailouts) will have to do more then move along to different agendas. They are going to have to own the votes, be specific and "sin no more" if they hope the GOP becomes a success story for more than 2 years.
© Kevin Price
November 12, 2010
House Republican leader John Boehner (and soon, the new Speaker of the House) is working hard to become the poster boy for the Tea Party. In recent months Boehner has emphasized lowering spending to 2008 levels and restoring the Bush tax cuts. This message resonates with voters and has President Barack Obama so nervous that he is actually campaigned in Boehner's state as if the Ohio Congressman was a candidate for President. With the Republican leader will becoming the new Speaker of the House, Obama is trying to set the stage of what future battles will look like.
In spite of the enormous GOP wins in the House and Senate, the consensus from most pollsters and pundits is that this election will be a referendum against the democrats and not a rally for the Republicans. If that is true, the GOP will only have two short years to convince voters to invest future votes, and the White House in particular, into the Republican Party.
That means Republicans are going to have to understand that the Tea Party is not merely critical of the Democrats' approach to economic policy, but is also angry at the members of the GOP that have supported a gradual approach to socialism. This is the same type of spending that has no support in the Constitution and gives the left its justification for going all the more further in its agenda. The rationale is simple...illegal spending is illegal spending, regardless of the amount. You might as well go for the maximum if you are going to pursue it at all. That is the one area that rank and file conservatives have been most upset about when it comes to the GOP. Many believe that the Democrats, with their horrible agendas, are at least honest about their intentions. They are socialists and progressives, and are largely proud of it. Many in the GOP are also, but try to convince voters they have no stomach for the very spending they consistently support.
John Boehner notes that "People are demonstrating and attending town hall meetings because...'we're in the midst of a political rebellion in America.'" I know the Congressman would love to put himself in the "us" side of the classic "us vs. them" conflict. Sorry Mr. Boehner, you are "them." You supported President Bush's bailout in September 2008 and many see you as a convert of convenience when it comes to the proper role of government today.
Boehner indicated that he attended a tea party over Labor Day weekend last year near his West Chester, Ohio home that drew 18,000 people. He says the crowd told members of Congress that "enough is enough." The thing I do not think that he and many of his GOP colleagues understand is that the comments are directed to both sides of the aisle in Congress. If the shoe fits, Mr. Boehner, by all means wear it. We are not looking for lip service, but repentance for being a captain on a slow boat to socialism. The voters who shook up the Congress in 2010 do not want socialism at all, no matter how fast or slow you get there.
Candidates who have supported the worst forms of socialism in recent years (such as TARP and bailouts) will have to do more then move along to different agendas. They are going to have to own the votes, be specific and "sin no more" if they hope the GOP becomes a success story for more than 2 years.
© Kevin Price
The views expressed by RenewAmerica columnists are their own and do not necessarily reflect the position of RenewAmerica or its affiliates.
(See RenewAmerica's publishing standards.)
