Posted on 12/12/2013 7:47:37 PM PST by neverdem
Even as their political prospects brighten for 2014, Republicans are at odds with each other.
Glen Bolger, one of the Republican party's leading pollsters, told the Washington Post today that the Republican party needs to stop being the "dysfunctional equivalent of the Washington Redskins."
If anything, Bolger was being too generous. The ongoing Republican soap opera between the so-called establishment and the emboldened conservative grassroots is even more chaotic than the latest drama between Mike Shanahan, Dan Snyder and RG3.
Consider: Paul Ryan, the leading voice of fiscal conservatism in Congress, is getting pilloried by his own colleagues for acquiescing to a budget compromise that avoids the prospect of a politically-suicidal government shutdown next year. House Speaker John Boehner sounded downright exasperated today in reacting to conservative opposition to the deal, calling it "ridiculous." But Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, already under fire from conservative groups for his propensity for deal-making, is reportedly against the budget compromise. McConnell's been joined in opposition by Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, two of the upper chamber's most high-profile Republicans.
The Republican party rarely misses an opportunity to miss an opportunity.
Even conservative groups are fighting with each other. The Republican Study Committee Chairman fired its longtime executive director, out of concern he was leaking confidential conversations to conservative groups hostile to Republican interests. They're at odds with each other over political strategy, with the Club for Growth keeping its powder dry, while the Senate Conservatives Fund is eagerly looking for opportunities to challenge sitting Republican senators who are ideologically unkosher.
And that's not including today's disturbing allegation that Ryan Loskarn, the chief of staff to Tennessee Sen. Lamar Alexander was placed on leave amid allegations involving child pornography.
The Republican party rarely misses an opportunity to miss an opportunity. With several new national polls showing the GOP ahead on the generic ballot for the first time in years and Democrats self-immolating over their troubled health care law, Republicans are in terrific position to capitalize. That was the political logic behind the Ryan budget compromise – delay a messy fiscal fight until after the 2014 midterms, which are shaping up to be favorable for Republicans. Retake the Senate, and suddenly the party holds a lot more leverage over future fiscal fights.
But for those who have followed the ongoing battles between Republican leadership and the conservative back-benchers, it's never easy. Ryan argued, at his press briefing with Patty Murray Wednesday, that Republicans can't let the perfect be the enemy of the good. To conservatives, the compromise that was struck isn't even close to being good.
The dysfunction is here to stay, whether Republicans like it or not.
"[The Republican establishment] is not following through what they promised, and they don't realize how hostile they are to the grassroots," said Senate Conservative Fund executive director Matt Hoskins. "This is the type of stuff that sends a message to voters that their leaders in Washington don't like them, and they don't represent them."
Until now, Republicans have usually acquiesced to its confrontationally conservative wing on some of the big fights – shutting down the government over Obamacare funding, rejecting tactical maneuvers to gain leverage on fiscal cliff negotiations. But there are signs that the establishment is now eager to fight back. McConnell has declared war against his chief conservative nemesis, the Senate Conservatives Fund, blacklisting consultants and candidates doing business with the group. The Chamber of Commerce is now willing to involve itself in primaries, already spending six-figures in an Alabama Congressional runoff between an establishment Republican and a grassroots conservative. Even Boehner, who has been criticized for bowing to his right flank, hit back at them today, saying opponents of the budget deal were "using our members and… using the American people for their own goals."
Many Republicans believe counter-attacks by the establishment is exactly the formula for unifying the party. It's time for more sticks than carrots, the thinking goes. But that ignores the fact that conservative voters are driving the rise of outside groups, not the other way around. These are the voters who hated the bank bailouts, resent campaign committee involvement in Republican primaries, and think politicians are too quick to "go Washington" when elected, enjoying the perks of power over the principles of politics.
These tea party voters aren't going away, and are the driving force behind the conservative opposition. That's why seven of the 12 Republican senators on a ballot next year face primary challenges, even if most aren't all-that-credible.
That means the dysfunction is here to stay, whether Republicans like it or not. It means the party will continue to look like an unruly mess for the foreseeable future, mostly being held together by their shared opposition to President Obama.
“...Are they scary looking?...”
Dunno... I sorta think they all look like the Grinch...
I have simple approach, I dont believe any of them(blindly).
Reagan:”Trust but verify”
SOL:” I need to verify”
How did I nail Paul Ryan so early? Simple logical sanity checks.
RE Ryan:
Yeah, you called him right early on, brother. You tend to be right more often than not.
“Dont trust, instead verify”
Kinda wish “our side” would expend as much energy going after the democommies as they do going after Tea Party folks.
I’m sick of the whole thing, but I guess that’s what both sides want - us to just get disgusted and go away.
Ain’t gonna happen.
In this case its back and forth, Bohner is responding to fire at him and Ryan with his ‘woof-woof’ back
Its wasnt like a pre-emptive attack.
Bohners #1 was to avoid another shutdown before the election. I mean nothing should be a surprise here.
Did you see that House vote? Its not like he passed it with most Dem votes. Only ~ 26 GOPs voted against it.
The night a deal was being started to end the shutdown and finalized the next day, I posted a vanity called
Boehner's Shutdown End-game play (you won't like it) 10/15/2013
It predicted exactly what one happen the next day or so, and one Koolaid Drinker posted comments on it telling me I shouldnt be warning others what would happen because its defeatist.
I was the only one here to pick up on this imminent change and I put it in breaking news
Senate Democrats threaten to change filibuster rules on a party-line vote (DONE: 52-48)
“...why isn’t the GOP preaching the gospel of capitalism to the immigrants who came here for the opportunity to work?”
Could it be the welfare they can collect just be being here?
Not so. Here's the Roll Call vote. There were 62 Noes. The GOP had 169 Ayes. I'd like to see the Ayes primaried, IMHO.
FINAL VOTE RESULTS FOR ROLL CALL 640
LibLieSlayer, Josh Kraushaar is some kind of conservative partial to Tea Party ideas, IMHO, despite current or former employers' political leanings. All of their writers at National Journal and Politico are not lefties.
AGHHH< I got the 2 and 6 in wrong order.
Good catch
Washington Bravehearts. :^)
I wouldn’t expect to pass 100% of what we want. But the fact that the deal raised spending and raised fee revenue was ridiculous. The Republicans traded their defense pork for welfare pork. The budget should have simply maintained the status quo of the sequester. If that was good enough for a deal last year without a shutdown, why wouldn’t it be this year? Not to mention I think it’s a 2-year-deal, so the Republicans already gave up the store for the year after their expected “sweep” election takes place for no reason?
Just a simple question in reply to all this bickering about Conservative opposition to the budget:
“Can you write a budget that commits future legislatures to budget cuts?”
If the answer is no, and Reagan would testify (or David Stockman would, if he had one ball in his sack), that the answer IS no.
Promised cuts aren’t cuts. Cuts are cuts. Saying they’re cuts doesn’t make them so. The Senate’s going to shut this down, it appears. (Both sides of the aisle).
I agree that many Republicans hated the sequester cuts so they cut a deal on that too.
And obviously Dems hated cuts to their stuff.
Ryan never like those sequester cuts even though he originally praised that sequester bill in 2011 then spent 2+ years backtracking on them.
Bohner gave his members the shutdown they demanded but they never had focused goals or demands to go with it to use it for anything.
It was one theme after another and ended up a confusing mess and in the end Bohner did what we all knew what he would do, pass the Senate bill.
On Obama’s side it was simple. Accept the original CR as is.
It pretty much killed the appetite for another. That primed the pumps for this deal.
I understand and I will take your word for it. All are not progressive... but all of them have at times embraced the evil of the left. I never will again. Maybe I am the odd man out but I know who and what I am and I will not compromise my bedrock tenants for anyone or any party. That is just how I roll. I used to but after being lied to and screwed over by the gop/e for decades... I had to take a stand. There can be no compromise with evil and anything that furthers the agenda of the left is evil.
Rather than unrealistically fantasizing about primarying 70% of the GOP conference we should target the worst and most vulnerable subpar members.
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