Their Loss, Our Gain?
Karl Rove’s weekly column in the WSJ is must reading for me, as I suspect it is for many people. This week’s column certainly doesn’t disappoint. It’s Mr. Rove’s belief that President Obama’s policy stumbles are creating an opportunity for revival within the GOP for 2010. I heartily concur. Here’s the opening paragraph of Mr. Rove’s column:
Something powerful is stirring in the land, and it may not be good news for President Barack Obama, his agenda or the Democratic Party. Mr. Obama said Tuesday night his budget moves America “from an era of borrow and spend” to “save and invest.” But people are realizing he would add $9.3 trillion to the national debt, doubling it in six years and nearly tripling it in 10 years, according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). How can that be “save and invest”?
I suspect that the Rick Santelli-inspired Tea Party Movement has given people a rallying point. Families and small businesses are cutting back and prioritizing spending. Washington is on a spending spree. AIG-sized companies are the beneficiaries of Washington’s largess. Christopher Dodd is expressing outrage at the AIG bonuses that his legislation codified into law. People see Washington’s ineptitude, especially personified by Treasury Secretary Geithner.
Factor these things together and it’s easy to understand why “something powerful is stirring in the land.”
I further suspect that the stimulus bill was the initial catalyst. After Speaker Pelosi ramrodded the bill through the House and the bill was published online, bloggers started going through the bill line by line. What they found was a disgusting list of things. Most of the money was spent on President Obama’s political allies.
Mostly, though, President Obama is governing like the radical he is while trying to sound moderate in tone. Unlike the campaign, people aren’t buying into President Obama’s schtick.
Meanwhile, House Republicans voted unanimously against the stimulus bill. Even after Susan Collins, Olympia Snowe and ‘Benedict Arlen’ Specter voted with Senate Democrats, people still noticed that Republicans were the party of fiscal sanity in DC.
Americans are also worried about Mr. Obama’s plans for $1.9 trillion more in taxes. These tax hikes won’t just affect the “rich,” as he claims. His cap-and-trade carbon tax will hit everyone who consumes energy, that is, every American. Taxes on the top 5% of filers will result in lost jobs and wages for small businesses and less charitable giving. The administration claims higher taxes are required for deficit reduction. But its spending increases are half again as large as its tax hikes.
The last thing blue collar America can afford is President Obama’s cap-and-trade tax increase. Heating bills are already high enough, thanks mostly to Democrats’ refusal to drill on the OCS.
The joke that’s travelling around the Right Blogosphere is that President Obama still hasn’t solved any problems. Instead, the joke goes, the only thing President Obama knows how to do are massive government takeovers and spending unprecedented amounts of money while racking up unprecedented and unsustainable deficits.
Then-candidate Obama’s campaign was a smooth-running machine. President Obama’s administration is supplying late night talk show hosts with a steady stream of material.
Thanks to that, the GOP’s biggest task might just be looking competent and/or reasonable. That shouldn’t be difficult considering the fact that they’ll be viewed against the radical backdrop that President Obama is painting.
The dynamic he has set in motion could spur the emergence of strong competitors to Mr. Obama in 2012 who take a strong, principled stand against record-setting deficits, debt and taxes. It may also strengthen Republican chances in next year’s midterm elections.
Democrats should, for example, be troubled by a new National Public Radio poll showing Republicans tied or ahead in generic matchups for Congress. And while the midterms are 20 months off, Republican gubernatorial hopefuls in Virginia (Attorney General Bob McDonnell) and New Jersey (former U.S. Attorney Chris Christie) are ahead in two states Barack Obama carried last year that vote this fall.
The tide has turned since November’s elections. The only thing left to be determined is whether this is the start of a wave election or just a really good year for Republicans. We’ll have to wait another 20 months to find that out. What’s certain is that Democrats face an uphill fight in 2010.
Thank You, President Obama.
Cross-posted at LetFreedomRingBlog
Technorati Tags: Democrats, President Obama, Tim Geithner, Christopher Dodd, AIG, Bailouts, Deficits, Stimulus Bill, Special Interests, Cap And Trade, Corruption, Speaker Pelosi, Election 2010