Said it before, still true today
My offer is nothing.
That scene from the Godfather, that only works when you have power. The GOP seems to think that if they offer nothing the public will prefer that over something. On issue after issue the Republican offer is nothing. They are nihilists who are willing to turn on any idea they once held dear as soon as Obama considers supporting it. Being consistent doesn't matter anymore, nothing matters more than opposing Obama at every turn.
That is the GOP strategy. When Americans say they want disaster relief the GOP has nothing to offer. When Americans say they want better health care the GOP has nothing to offer. When Americans say they want consumer protection so predatory lenders can't rob working class Americans blind the GOP has absolutely nothing to offer those working class Americans because they are too busy undermining those consumer protections at the behest of the Wall Street banks who butter their bread. And when Americans say that no American should have to wait eight hours or more to vote the only thing the GOP has to offer is something that will make our problems worse.
more below the squiggle . . .
The idea of having something to offer to voters, you know, to make your party popular, that notion is anathema to the modern GOP. They call it 'handouts' unless it is a tax cut for the rich or corporations or military spending, they shrieked over fake Obama cellphones, as if providing services for Americans is the last thing the Government should be doing, and what the GOP doesn't get in its' mindless servitude to the whims and every last need of the big moneyed special interests is that being popular is how you are supposed to win elections.
But the GOP has nothing popular to offer. Tax cuts for the rich? Nope. War? Nope. Repeal Obamacare? Nope. In state after state where Republican governors were elected in 2010 and GOP 'ideas' were put into practice, in those states where Republicans actually got to govern the GOP Governors in charge are not very popular at all, and guys like Rick Scott, Rick Snyder, John Kasich, Paul LePage and Scott Walker all have big angry clouds over their heads. The public at large continues to reject the ideas offered by the GOP. So what is plan B? Obstruct Obama, of course!
So the GOP, unpopular in the states they won in 2010 and incapable of passing anything through the Senate has decided to stick to the playbook that won them so much in 2010 and nothing at all in 2012. Do nothing, whine, drag out every possible scandal no matter how ginned up and petty it may be, abuse the filibuster, take routine procedures hostage and make ridiculous demands, the GOP can do all that, but what it can't do is communicate any new ideas because they don't have any, so the GOP is reduced to selling the same rejected ideas only with different salesmen and branding efforts. That is not going to work, it didn't work in 2008, it didn't work in 2012 and I don't think it is going to work in 2016 when the demographics have shifted even further away from the party of Grumpy Old White Men.
Can the GOP fix this. No. They can't. For that I am somewhat glad, but I'd be even gladder if Republicans came to their senses. The public outside of the Fox Newsiverse doesn't like what Republicans are selling no matter what the Frank Luntz's of the world want to call it, so the GOP can't change its message, it can't accomplish anything on the Federal level, the current Democratic President is riding high on popularity and waiting in the wings in 2016 is potential candidate Hillary Clinton who is the only politician in America who may be more popular than Obama. It is going to take a hell of a lot more than the Republican version of the Underpants gnomes theory of profit to fix this mess. One thing is clear, the GOP is utterly screwed, stuck in reverse and speaking a language of the past to an aging and diminishing base. Or as I call it; Progress.
That scene from the Godfather. 'My offer is nothing.' That strategy only works when you are dealing from a position of strength. Obama is dealing from a position of strength having just won re-election easily and enjoying the support of the public. The GOP does not enjoy the support of the public. The GOP, frenzied and emboldened by their mindless berserker hatred of Obama thinks that they have the strength to offer nothing to 99% of the American public, nothing more than a dreary future of cuts and needless sacrifice on the Altar of Ayn Rand and some anti-abortion bills and union busting. Nothing else. Nothing. Despite two thrashings in a row at the hands of Barack Obama the GOP has an offer to make to America and that offer is nothing. That strategy can definitely work to sabotage the Federal Government and make sure Obama doesn't accomplish as much as he could have otherwise, sure, but that strategy also guarantees that the GOP will have nothing new to offer in the next election cycle other than new salesmen and a new jingle to the same old shit sandwich they couldn't sell to America in 2008 and 2012. The problem isn't that America just doesn't know about the GOP well enough, the problem for the GOP is that America knows EXACTLY who and what the modern GOP is, a cult of far right loons who suck at economics, turned projected surpluses into deficits and failed to keep America safe who are driven by unaccountable grifter/pundits who think that the problem with George W. Bush was that Barack Obama ruined America. And if you believe that I know some gnomes who will totally buy your underpants.
1. Obstruct Obama
2. ???
3. Win the Presidency in 2016.
I understand how this strategy is suppose to make Obama and Government look bad, what I don't understand is how this strategy is supposed to make Republicans look good.
The floor is now yours.