The End of the Apathy
Everybody knows that the GOP has been, to be polite, apathetic the last 2 election cycles. That isn’t news. What’s news is that the apathy appears to be abating. There are several explanations for the GOP’s disappearing apathy. One of the biggest reasons for the GOP’s apathy disappearing is Eric Cantor keeping his House colleagues from voting for the Democrats’ Porkulus bill. Another reason why conservatives aren’t apathetic is due to Michael Steele’s election to be the next chairman of the RNC.
The biggest reason for the apathy vanishing act is because President Obama foolishly picked a fight with Rush Limbaugh. Michelle Malkin has rightfully titled this episode The Rush Revival. Here’s the most astute observation Michelle makes in her NY Post column:
The stimulus bill is a prime example, a collection of pet projects connected by no coherent ideological strategy except spending. Do Democrats really support it because it’s a good bill? Or is it simply because Republicans oppose it?
Either way, picking a fight with Rush was disastrous for the White House. Obama’s criticism of Limbaugh, and by extension, the broader influence of conservative talk radio and grass-roots activism, galvanized the base. Let’s face it, there’s been a little bit of moping since the November losses. Conservatives retreated into think tanks and blogs, trying to figure out what went wrong, sure that the public mood for empty promises would sour soon enough.
Harry Reid tried picking a fight with Rush. Sen. Reid still winces each time he thinks about the damage Rush inflicted on him. President Obama was riding high in the polls. The media’s reporting was embarrassingly fatuous. President Obama made the mistake of picking a fight with Rush.
The reason President Obama’s picking a fight with Rush on the stimulus bill is that it gave Rush the opportunity to highlight all the pork earmarked for the Democrats’ special interest allies. Support for the Porkulus bill started dropping the minute Rush started telling his audience that the bill wasn’t about stimulating the economy.
Not only did support for the bill start dropping at that point but it’s also the point at which Rep. Cantor was able to convince the House GOP that this was the perfect opportunity for the GOP to stand up to President Obama and Speaker Pelosi.
It isn’t a stretch to think that Rush provided political cover for Blue Dog Democrats and GOP squishies to pull their support from the bill in the House.
Another indicator that Republicans are getting pumped is the number of articles offering suggestions to Chairman Steele that are popping up everywhere.
At the start of the presidential election cycle, people had opinions on what the RNC, NRCC and NRSC should do. Most of it was offered in justifiably angrey tones. That’s been replaced by people offering suggestions in hopes of getting on the same page as Chairman Steele, Leader Boehner and the House leadership team. Jennifer Rubin’s article isn’t harshly worded. Salena Zito’s article is written from a positive perspective, too.
There’s still much work to be done but the shift in attitude is a welcome sight. Conservatives armed with a positive attitude have a history of success. (Just ask Speaker Tom Foley in 1994.) I’m not predicting a dramatic turnaround. I’m just saying that people have rewarded Republicans when we’ve been the party of ideas and solutions.
Technorati Tags: Rush, Stimulus Package, Conservatism, Eric Cantor, John Boehner, Michael Steele, RNC, President Obama, Harry Reid, Tom Foley, Democrats
Cross-posted at LetFreedomRingBlog