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The GOP seems to be doing everything it can to help elect Democrats in 2010. The reality is that northeastern Republicans in the Senate (as a matter of personal political survival) are going to have to let some kind of stimulus plan through. Yet, the rest of the GOP is playing every political game to sabotage the Obama administration during a time when most Americans are afraid everything is going to fall apart. The latest comes from rightist nutjob Sen. Judd Gregg of New Hampshire. (New York Times via the San Jose Mercury 2/12/09)
Sen. Judd Gregg of New Hampshire abruptly withdrew Thursday as the nominee to be commerce secretary, saying he had "irresolvable conflicts" with President Barack Obama over his economic stimulus plan and a concern over what many fellow Republicans believe is the politicization of the 2010 census.
The departure of Gregg is the latest setback to a White House that has struggled to fill several top positions and fulfill the president's pledge to build a bipartisan administration. He is the third prospective Cabinet secretary — the second at the Commerce Department — to remove his name from consideration.
"I'm a fiscal conservative, as everybody knows, a fairly strong one," Gregg, a Republican, told reporters at an afternoon news conference in the Capitol. "And it just became clear to me that it would be very difficult, day in and day out, to serve in this Cabinet or any Cabinet."
"It was my mistake, obviously, to say yes," he added.
Barack Obama is doing everything he can to work with Republicans, even trying to appoint a GOP Senator Commerce Secretary and getting New Hampshire's governor to agree to appoint a Republican. What does that GOP Senator do? Judd Gregg breaks the agreement.
The macro picture is that Gregg and his GOP partisans are creating a politically expedient situation for the Democrats. Enough of a stimulus plan will get through so that if the economy doesn't completely tank, the party with the donkey mascot will take and get credit from the overwhelming majority of the American people. If the stimulus plan isn't enough, then Democrats can easily and credibly point out that GOP obstructionism prevented the Democrats from doing much more.
On the micro level, Gregg will have made his race very personal for partisan Democrats, which should set off an enormous flood of small to mid size donations from the grassroots. This isn't good in a state where Republican elected officials are becoming an endangered species.
The future outlook for the GOP gets worse too. If the economy starts getting worse, it will be easy for Democrats to turn public anger against the party that just keeps saying NO to any kind of action. The average American will be ready to tar and feather these fools.
No matter what the GOP does, the corporate media will try to spin it in the Republicans' favor. The Times article does just that if you read the whole thing. It won't work.
Obama needs to stop trying to be bipartisan -- not with this group of Repugs because they're incapable of looking beyond their dogma.
I've been thinking the same myself. It seems the Republicans are more interested in cold, abstract party ideology than in actually doing something to help average people.
Heh. Bipartisanship. What Obama needs to do is get rid of Emmanuel and his DLC centrist gang (including the Clintonistas near the Oval Office): they're Republican-lite, anyway. And I don't think that the majority of Mericans wanted that. Look, while the Democratic win in 11/08 may not have been a landslide, the Democrats do have some power in Washington now, and they're not using it. But, personally, I don't think there's a helluva lot of difference between the two coroporate parties. The Republicans don't care about the common good, and neither do the Dems, IMO.
Happy Valentines Day.
I agree. Let us dispense with this idea of bipartisanship with the GOP since to them it means "do what we want" anyway. Where was Republican bipartisanship when Tom Delay was majority leader?
Sarah Palin is helping too... I heard media studies professor Susan Douglas say that following Sarah Palin is like watching a train wreck over and over.
Then there is Michale Steele, from my adopted state of Maryland, the Land of Pleasant Living.... eyes roll. I heard he coined "drill baby drill."