Learning to be the loyal opposition
posted at 7:30 pm on November 5, 2008 by Ed Morrissey
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I’ve taken a few phone calls from friends on Capitol Hill, in the area, and from family wondering how I was taking the election results. Most of them apparently expected me to be drinking hemlock, or standing out on the ledge. Fortunately, hemlock is out of season in Minnesota, and my ledge is only high enough to turn an ankle if I was inclined to jump. Other than a butt-kicking head cold, I’m feeling all right.
If one participates in politics long enough, disappointment is inevitable. Great issues and dangerous times are always present, and elections and their results always matter. By no means do I want to minimize the importance of elections, but the truth is that people make choices with which we don’t always agree, for reasons we don’t usually like. In a democracy, we have to accept that as reality, and transition to other efforts that impact policy decisions until another election comes along.
Sometimes that transition is hard to make. A few people never made that transition after the 2000 election, for instance. It takes more than a few hours, or a few days. But eventually, if we value democracy, we have to accept the legitimacy of those elections we lose. Without that commitment, we can’t support democracy at all.
We now have to adjust to the fact that Republicans no longer control any of the elective parts of the federal government. We’re now the opposition party in the House, Senate, and the White House simultaneously for the same time since the 1994 elections. How we handle that role will help determine how long we have to remain in the wilderness, and how long it will take to rebuild our credibility.
Barack Obama is our president now, and we should respect the office while offering our dissent. We can energetically offer our criticism for his policies, appointments, and philosophies, and I look forward to that fight. We can let go of the issues in Obama’s past, though. The American electorate has heard those issues and absorbed them. His inexperience and lack of legislative track record made them relevant in the election, but they’re baked into the cake now.
President-elect Obama will be in office for the next four years, and the only issues that matter now are Obama’s actions as President. We need to focus on those, making our counterarguments and offering common-sense policy proposals as an alternative. We need to generate grassroots pressure on Congress just as we did with the immigration-reform bill in 2007 when we see the need, and get the Republicans to offer resistance to the radical parts of the Democratic agenda. We need to keep track of the performance of Obama’s team, document their failures and any abuses that may occur.
In 2012, we will be able to run against Obama’s record. He will not be able to vote “present” any longer, and he will have to commit to courses of action. Where he follows common-sense solutions that work towards private-sector growth and American strength and security, we should recognize it, and where he doesn’t, we can present those failures to the voters when Obama runs for re-election. We can also do the same with Congress, which has no more excuses for their failures, and make the case for divided government in 2010 — as long as we establish ourselves as worthy for leadership with American voters.
Some have said that acting like petulant children worked for the Democrats in 2006 and 2008, and scoff at the notion that we should act like grown-ups now. I’d remind people that we lost the majorities in 2006 and the White House in 2008 not because Democrats acted like petulant children, but because Republicans acted like Democrats, especially on spending, pork, and corruption. We can do better than that, and we’d better if we expect voters to trust us when we say we support private-sector solutions, limited government, and peace through strength. We won’t rebuild that credibility by using personal attacks as a substitute for a real governing policy and consistency.
It’s time to get to work.
Jazz Shaw and Lady Logician have more thoughts on this topic.
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Poisoned cake, anyone? Zero is a fraud. We can only guess who sent him. I say he is the personified bad karma of America.
What are you doing Ed? Trying to be willfully ignorant? Ooops – I mean ‘naive’. There, that’s more palatable, right? Encouraging us to pull the wool over our own eyes? Forget Prairie Fire, the Chicago Annenburg Challenge, Woods Fund, Gamaliel – inconvenient truths.
No. I’m with Mark Levin and Pamela Geller. I am a radical member of the rebel alliance. We don’t have anything good to say about the deceitful liar Captain Zero and his sycophants who scammed the election. Levin says, “Crush them like the cockroaches that they are!” So when you need someone to KICK THE HOUSE DOWN, call us. We are here.
Republicans should choose their battles but stop being such gentlemanly losers (aka cowards).
rishika on November 6, 2008 at 7:40 AM
The first step has got to be for conservatives to get the attention of the Republican party. The very fact that stories are even now coming out where insiders are savaging Palin and making her the scapegoat without facing the fact that the real problem was the candidate.
I didn’t see tens of thousands people attending rallies before she came onto the scene.
I am glad to be a part of the loyal opposition, but as a conservative I feel like the powers to be in the Republican party view me as the opposition.
Fine.
I am going to do my part to see that no more RINOs go back to congress and it will start with me working against the election of Saxby Chambliss who is facing a run off election in GA.
His opponent is liberal but the outcome will not strengthen the Democrats hold on the senate beyond what it is already.
If conservatives can block Chambliss’ reelection, and somehow be given credit for taking an active part in it, then maybe we can get a seat at the table and have our voices heard.
Just A Grunt on November 6, 2008 at 7:49 AM
Don’t have time to read all of the comments here, but I’d like to respond to a comment I’ve seen a couple of people make. Some have said that acting all moon-batty worked for the Dems in 2006 & 2008. I’d argue that they’d have probably won in 2004 if the anti-war movement weren’t totally nutsh*t crazy. If they’d dropped the “impeach Chimpy Bushitler and try him for war crimes”, “Bush lied people died” crap, and had someone make an intelligent, reasoned plea for why the war should be ended, does anyone doubt they’d have won?
Face it, we can’t out-crazy the Dems, and we can’t out-cuss them. We can’t out-hysteria them, and we can’t out-lie them. The only way we’ll get this thing back was the way Reagan did: by communicating clearly an upbeat message that shows why America will have greater security, freedom and opportunity with conservatives in office. Can we find someone to do that? I don’t know. But mark my words, if we play the Dems’ game, we are guar-on-teed to lose.
And if we DO get Republicans in office again, and they disgrace themselves they way they did from 2000-2008 (I refer primarily to their spending), then all hope truly will be lost.
RegularJoe on November 6, 2008 at 8:00 AM
I should have added: if we *DID* manage to do this, we’d wind up with crazy, foul-mouthed, hysterical liars in office — and I think we all agree that Al Franken is not the type of person we want in D.C.
RegularJoe on November 6, 2008 at 8:19 AM
Personally, I plan to take the “petulant child” route. In fact, I’m not taking down my McCain-Palin signs. I’m going to leave them up until they fall down of themselves. And as for “winding up with crazy hysterical liars in office” the sheer numbers of such Democrats is over whelming–just take a look at Massachusetts for starters. If anyone out there thinks that the average Dem will even notice if GOPers fall on their swords, I encourage reality therapy.
jeanie on November 6, 2008 at 8:27 AM
I apologize for picking your post when I could have picked any of a dozen others; but do some of you people ever THINK about what you’re saying?!? If the objective is to just get OUR crooks and liars in place (not that I think we can), what’s the point? I’ve got other things to do if this is going to be a waste of time. The idea here is to have a responsible, non-intrusive, constitutional government. If we’re not moving in that direction, why bother?
RegularJoe on November 6, 2008 at 8:46 AM
Everytime we as Republicans act in a bi-partisan manner, Democrats have taken advantage of that because they have no intention of doing so.
Respect for the office of the Presidency and the democratic process is genuine and never ending. But support for this country is greater. This coming administration and those affiliated with it have a fundamental disgust for what the core values and principles of this country and what made it great. These values undermine their egotism because their existence serve as evidence that their ideology is wrong. They need to eliminate it.
Acting in a bi-partisan manner with these individuals who have deceived the voting public simply to gain power is not serving this country. It is being complicit in the process of destroying its foundation. We do not need to “give them a chance.” We need to oppose them every small step of the way to check them and cripple their agenda until such time that the public comes to realize what their true agenda is. Just like the public came to see that the Clintons were liars and con artists, so, too, will they come to see that Obama comes not to save America, but irrepably change it so that it can be weakened and absorbed as just part of the global community.
AmericanUnderground on November 6, 2008 at 9:08 AM
My thoughts:
Obviously, we conservatives are adults. We have already proven that by not rioting in the streets. I doubt that we could come anywhere near the left’s level of deranged tantrum-throwing even if we tried. So let’s stop worrying about that right now.
The shoe is now squarely on the other foot. In politics, as everywhere else in life, the aggressor sets the rules. And they have certainly showed us how they want to play the game over the past eight years. Well, now it’s their turn. Let’s see how they like even a small taste of it.
People keep saying we should “give Obama credit” for things he does right (assuming there will be any such things). I ask you: why? To show liberals how fair-minded and civil we are? Yeah, that’s worked real well so far hasn’t it? News flash: They. Hate. Us. I’m not advocating that we start indulging in the same sort of hatred that they do, but we should bear it firmly in mind during any and all dealings and interactions with them.
They don’t deserve the benefit of the doubt. They don’t deserve a fair chance. They don’t deserve our consideration. They don’t deserve respect. They deserve civility only as long and as far as they’re willing to observe it themselves. I’ll continue to respect the Office of the President, and I will refer to Barack Obama as such once he’s been sworn in, as a matter of course. And if he manages not to totally destroy this country, I’ll give him credit and appreciation for that — on the day he leaves office. Not before then.
They deserve to be politically defeated at every possible turn, at the very least. Their agenda and their corruption demands nothing less.
During Obama’s term in office, we will have at least 1,460 opportunities to permanently and irreversably destroy the credibility of the Old Media in the eyes of the public as they openly worship the ground he walks on. We should utilize every one of those opportunities. We should relentlessly ridicule and parody the media’s reverence for Obama every day, in every avenue and form of media possible, and we should do this consistently, until it is as firmly embedded in the public consciousness as all the lies they’ve told about Iraq. Ideally, it could get to the point where they start to feel defensive about it, and react accordingly. In so doing, we can’t expect to get the press to actually turn on him, but we can certainly blunt their effectiveness as a propaganda tool. That is how The One’s “media shield” should be dealt with, and how it can be broken.
Republicans in Congress should also wake up and realize that the reason they always get chewed up every time they reach across that aisle is because the Democrats have strung barbed wire down the middle of the chamber. That barrier should be recognized, and possibly reinforced. If not with another layer of wire from our side, then at least with sand bags.
It’s time to start taking the political war as seriously as we take any other, or at least as seriously as the other side does. That doesn’t mean we have to adopt their methods or their conduct, but we really ought to recognize the terms and the nature of the conflict, and start treating it as such on our terms. Fighting radical moonbats does not inherently mean lowering ourselves to their level, any more than fighting terrorists does. But they must be fought, and like the future depends on it…because it does.
Let’s find out if they still think this game is as much fun when both sides actually want to play.
Cylor on November 6, 2008 at 9:11 AM
Two things to remember: 1. Obama did not significantly increase his turnout, republicans significantly decreased in turnout. This was due to not having a conservative candidate. 2. Republicans have enough seats to spend the next two years doing what democrats did after the 2002 and 2004 elections – stall every liberal plan. I suggest they do it, if they want to have anything to fight for in 2010 and 2012. Else, the Mayans were correct about 2012.
Vashta.Nerada on November 6, 2008 at 9:18 AM
Huh? I’m not talking about “playing ball”; I’m saying we strip the lacquer off of them, but with intelligent language that respects the value of their followers, not the correctness of their views. The point is to peel away people who support the democrats. I don’t think we’ll do that by calling them names.
I’m going to guess that most of the “petulant children” (I’ll call them the “new PCs” from now on) are young, and don’t remember the world before Bush — or at least before Clinton. We conservatives personally reviled Clinton, more for his character than his policies (though we had some serious problems with him until he pretty much got with our program). The Dems were furious that we went after him personally – the whole “politics of personal destruction”. It wouldn’t have mattered what Republican was elected in 2000, or what he did, the name of the game was revenge for what we did to Clinton (in their eyes).
Now, we have to decide. Do we continue an escalating tit-for-tat, or do we call truce on the personal name-calling and get down to the business of what we want our government to look like?
So yeah, I’m willing to be big enough to, as the GOOD Buckley said, “stand athwart history and yell ‘Stop’!”
RegularJoe on November 6, 2008 at 9:20 AM
Hey Manly,
Get your butt back here; engage my friend, we need ya!!!!
Keemo on November 6, 2008 at 9:20 AM
I’m not suggesting name calling or politics of personal destruction. That is childish and counterproductive. I’m suggesting that we don’t meet them “halfway” on proposals and legislation. They will only use that as validation of the worth of their ideas.
And I am no young voter at 48…I remember all too well the Clinton years…and the price we are still paying today (see mortgage crisis and terrorism) for meeting misguided and naive Democrats halfway in their pursuit of satisfying their feelings of moral and intellectual superiority
AmericanUnderground on November 6, 2008 at 9:38 AM
“For now, we have a new president-elect. In the spirit of reaching across the aisle, we owe it to the Democrats to show their president the exact same kind of respect and loyalty that they have shown our recent Republican president.”
Ann Coulter
I second the above. What was it they called Bush? Chimphitler? McPretzelchoker? Shrub?
drewmesq on November 6, 2008 at 9:39 AM
Amen, brother. I’m not suggesting we be weak and accomodating; but sufficiently confident to meet them full on with sound policy, not with childish name-calling. I think you and I are on EXACTLY the same page.
RegularJoe on November 6, 2008 at 10:01 AM
And Ann Coulter — as great as she is as an in-house cheerleader — has persuaded SO MANY people to come out of the left and into the Republican/Conservative fold.
/sarc
RegularJoe on November 6, 2008 at 10:03 AM
This post is the perfect example of the difference between the right and the left in my humble opinion.
You see if the dems had lost this election as badly as we did there’d be hundreds of lawsuits, posts about voter fraud (even if there were no proof. Oddly enough we have proof and I see no posts here because it really matters very little), conspiracy theories about a one world government and “emperor McCain and Crony Palin”, but as is with one side that harbors and fosters and encourages class … defeat is taken with a sense of honor.
The American people have chosen. In my opinion they have not chosen wisely, but my opinion is worth no more than any other person who casts a ballot.
Therefore we concede to the will of the people – even if we sense disaster.
I am dismayed at how the dems have behaved when in these shoes, and at how they have underhandedly gone after the personal lives of people who have bothered to oppose them. It is unquestionably fascism and a mark of shame on them for their selfish ambition where they have shown that they have no moral qualms with destroying an innocent person for self gratification and gain.
I see criminality in the way Obama ran his campaign, and in the way the Dems dealt with media outlets that heavily criticized them. I see credit card fraud and voter fraud. I can do nothing about those things. Therefore I turn my attention to the future, and to what I can do.
I also turn to support a man whom I heavily disagree with. I will criticize his policies, and oppose his views. I will honor my country and support my President.
He is – regardless of our difference in views… My President and the leader of the free world. That I will not question. Leave the questions for next campaign season. Now it’s time to get to work seeding the grounds for future conservatives.
One Angry Christian on November 6, 2008 at 10:46 AM
When the matter is shrunk down to it’s simplest elements… what we’re looking at is Collectivism vs. Individualism (Liberty).
I have no intention of collaborating with an enemy who seeks the destruction of my personal freedom. So no, I’m not going to “agree to disagree” or to offer “respect to the office” of the new regime.
Murf76 on November 6, 2008 at 11:02 AM
I guess I don’t see the loss as a bad loss. It was noteworthy, but there was no landslide victory or statement by the American people that “Change” was where it’s at. It showed that we are an ideologically divided country, and in the middle are those who either sat it out, or went with the flow.
I appreciate Ed’s tone, and I agree with him on this much–it’s time to get to work. President Obama was made at the grassroots, and that is where we can do the most work in stopping similar politicians from getting a standing with the electorate, while working to ensure quality leaders get a voice. Sarah Palin started there and despite the current snipings, she will have a strong part to play in this rebirth. Same with Tom McClintock, who was rejected (with much regret and remorse) by Californians for governor, but now has a seat in Congress. Quality rises when given the opportunity.
We also can hold our Republican and conservatives representatives feet to the fire to stand against a tidal wave of liberal ideas that will ruin the country. They did an excellent job this summer on the oil drilling issue–if they reflect that form of passion and commitment to be heard on the issues we are currently facing, I see us having a much better foothold come 2010 and 2012.
joliveroconnell on November 6, 2008 at 11:18 AM
ED? Are you unwell?
I will counter with a PETULANT response…
“Americans play to win at all times. I wouldn’t give a hoot and hell for a man who lost and laughed. That’s why Americans have never lost nor ever lose a war.” -G.S.Patton
America has “absorbed” his Socialist past? ED, buddy… A M E R I C A was at the friggin’ MALL and the media colluded to keep the electorate ignorant….
Respectfully Ed…..are you out of your mind?
The battle for the very CONSTITUTION IS. A. WAR. ED.
HA is going soft….
seejanemom on November 6, 2008 at 11:54 AM
Well said Ed, it’s time to accept the defeat and get our new game faces on because two years is just around the corner.
Just as the media catered to the dems the past seven years “because they were the opposition” we can expect their focus to … stay the same, because they are the party in power. Republican causes can expect little air time so it’s very important for the right wing blogosphere to not become the hysterical mosh-pit of bile some want it to be.
The future is out there, we just have to take it back.
Tark on November 6, 2008 at 12:02 PM
Preventing National Suicide linked to by Hot Air an article by Melenie Philipps, read that, it tells you what happened in the UK, what your facing now and how not to defeat it, this is what I tried to say on a couple of posts earlier. Ignore the lesson the UK at your peril…
TrueBrit on November 6, 2008 at 12:07 PM
When I was in basic training at Fort Jackson my platoon sergeant said something I will remember all my life. Respect doesn’t come with the rank, respect you earn it. Basically his point was that you respect the rank no the man. The man has to earn your respect by his action. I will always respect the democratic process as I did when Clinton got elected. I will no rally or support Obama because I know what this guy and the congress will do to our country.
pukara61 on November 6, 2008 at 12:08 PM
What does it mean to be the “loyal” opposition to a guy who wants to “break free” from the constraints that our Founders imposed in the Constitution? Sheesh.
progressoverpeace on November 6, 2008 at 12:30 PM
Im glad they have a monopoly.
Im glad they dont have 60 in the senate.
Its all in their zone now and its just a matter of time before they over reach.
The conservatives meanwhile must cleanse themselves of the phonies and prepare for 2010.
Sonosam on November 6, 2008 at 12:39 PM
Captain,
I accept the legitimacy of the election. Form triumphed over substance.
But I shall be exactly as loyal in opposition as the Democrats were during their time in the desert. Obama’s Presidency deserves the same respect from us as Obama showed to the current sitting President.
They called Bush “Chimp”. I don’t think I’m going there, but it’s tempting.
unclesmrgol on November 6, 2008 at 2:27 PM
The last thing Republicans need to do now is engage in Obama Derangement Syndrome, as the Democrats did with Pres. Bush, and to a lesser extent we all did with Clinton and his chain of scandals. We need to criticize when appropriate and praise when he does the right thing for the country. We all need to be focused and studious in our battle for the conservative cause. Acting like the children on the nutroots sites is not productive, and is actually destructive in our cause.
We do not need to go nuts. There will be congressional elections in only 2 years. We need to get the right leadership in congress now to prepare for this.
simkeith on November 6, 2008 at 4:12 PM
Talk about petulant children!!! Saxby Chambliss is NOT a RINO or liberal, and we will need his vote in the Senate!
Right now we have, for sure, 40 Senators. Ted Stevens probably won in Alaska, but he will have to resign due to his conviction, and his replacement will be appointed by…Sarah Palin! Norm Coleman is involved in a very tight recount and leads by only 342 votes. We’re waiting for mail-in ballots in Oregon, and Gordon Smith is behind right now.
The other uncertain Senator is Saxby Chambliss. Chambliss leads by 113,828 votes, and the Libertarian candidate got 126,328. If the Libertarian is eliminated, most of those votes should go to Chambliss.
With President Obama and a wide Dem majority in the House, the only thing stopping this country from lurching far left is Senate filibusters, and we need 41 Republicans. One of them will be appointed by Sarah Palin, Coleman MIGHT be another, and the other will be Saxby Chambliss, unless petulant children like yourself work against him.
McCain campaigned on the slogan of “Country First”. Put your Country First, get Chambliss elected, so he can drag his feet as strongly as possible against socialism in America!
Steve Z on November 6, 2008 at 4:12 PM
Ann Coulter is exactly right. I plan on giving my dem friends a dose of their own medicine over the coming months. First and foremost I will not wait of the benefit of historical hindsight to make huge sweeping generalizations about the Obama administration or about congress. Everything they do will be the worst act known in recorded history. Second I will drone on about how the Obama administration is harming me personally and is harming the country as a whole (even if nothing really changes). Then I will find some legal issue where Obama acted within the letter and spirit of the law and claim that he’s acted criminally. Yep, that should be a good start.
MajorKong on November 6, 2008 at 6:12 PM
fify
Y-not on November 6, 2008 at 7:47 PM
I’m going to energetically treat Obama (the coke snorter) with the same level of respect that the left treated Bush for 8 years.
fossten on November 6, 2008 at 10:05 PM
Captain,
I accept the legitimacy of the election. Form triumphed over substance.
But I shall be exactly as loyal in opposition as the Democrats were during their time in the desert. Obama’s Presidency deserves the same respect from us as Obama showed to the current sitting President.
drewmesq on November 6, 2008 at 9:39 AM
They called Bush “Chimp”. I don’t think I’m going there, but it’s tempting.
unclesmrgol on November 6, 2008 at 2:27 PM
how about bonobobamastalin?
Sonosam on November 7, 2008 at 11:44 AM
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