Democrats, despite defeat at the state and national levels, remain a
dominant political force. This in in
part due to being devious, and in part due to the GOP being dull.
For eight years Republicans preached to voters, “give us Congress and the
presidency and we will return toward conservative principals of smaller government,
lower regulations, and reduced taxes that will begin the restoration of liberty
and prosperity.” This was a possibility
in February. It would take Republicans
to sway eight threatened Democrat Senators to pass legislation on their agenda.
However, the conservative Freedom Caucus wing of the GOP have seemed to
have forgotten that politics is the art of the possible. They have instead put the party’s head on the
chopping block for all-or-nothing legislation rather than an incremental and calculated
approach to change. Thus, the failure of
the Republicans to unite on healthcare puts the united Democrats in the driver
seat. Democrats can now make demand of
Republicans and derail the GOP agenda, which only 30 days ago seemed plausible
to achieve.
While Democrats and their media allies dance about alleged Russian
attempts to interfere in the election long since passed, Obamacare remains and
continues its death spiral. Congress is
in Republican grid-lock. Senate Democrats
are playing chicken with the Neil Gorsuch nomination to the Supreme Court
cunningly by positioning for a filibuster.
What began at the beginning of the year as a GOP springboard to a new
agenda is now under water.
It would be advisable for the GOP to enjoy a range of small victories by
implementing policy and change in small bites rather than big gulps. Get somethings done unilaterally from which
success will begat success. The vulnerable
Democratic Senators will then be more amenable to bipartisan compromise.
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