This is not an argument for House Republicans to simply “go along to get along.” But it is an argument for smarter strategic thinking. They could have easily passed a fine bill and slipped out of town largely unnoticed. It would have made zero difference in terms of policy — but it would have been a small, if welcome, PR coup. We’d probably still be talking about the floundering president. Instead, they insisted on passing what they viewed as a more perfect bill, at great cost.
House Republicans do themselves — do the cause — little good when they get attention for internecine squabbling and incoherent obstruction. All they do is distract America from a president who has accomplished next to nothing in his flailing second term. The only time Obama looks good is when he’s compared to the House GOP. You know that old line about not interfering with your enemy when he’s in the process of committing suicide? Republicans apparently are unfamiliar with it.
This reminds me of something: They used to hang industrial safety signs in factories, saying things like: “X days without an accident.” Well, Republicans ought to have one of those signs hanging in the NRCC. Because if they can string together 60 consecutive days without an “accident,” they will have a very good November.
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