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The U.S. Senate as Post-Election Battleground
Will the GOP Senate minority be able to slow the runaway train of Obama, Pelosi, and Reid?
Should Obama try to push through legislation outlawing secret ballot union elections (e.g., “card check”), McConnell will no doubt mount the opposition. Similarly, he seems poised to oppose large spending (although filibuster rules generally do not apply on budget votes) and efforts to re-impose the recently lapsed ban on offshore drilling.
This sets the stage for the greatest mystery of the new administration: which Obama will show up and which agenda will he offer? Will it be the moderate who seemed to advocate the items on the McConnell-approved list, or the ultra-liberal who earned the distinction of McConnell’s most liberal colleague? It is not clear, but provided GOP senators’ numbers do not dwindle any further, McConnell may act as a brake on the most extreme elements of the Democrats’ agenda.
The initial jockeying for position reminds us that McConnell is now the most important Republican in Washington and, until the 2012 presidential race gets underway, effectively the face of the party. Conservatives find comfort in that. As a savvy tactician he did his best to operate in the face of a Democratic majority since 2006 and continually frustrated Democratic moves to, among other things, cut off or condition funds for U.S. troops in Iraq.
But the danger for McConnell and the rump Republicans is great: the country (not to mention the media) is rooting for “change” and supporting the new president-elect, whatever direction he takes. A strategy of defense is likely to be labeled “obstructionist” — or worse — by those expecting Obama to take Washington by storm. There is perhaps no better politician able to withstand elite opinion and media criticism than McConnell. Ever calm and relentlessly focused on conservative aims, he at times seems serenely impervious to his opponents’ barbs.
However, it would be a mistake to assume that McConnell and the Republicans will only play the role of “Dr. No.” In the stalemate over the $700 billion Paulson bailout bill, we saw McConnell work his legislative magic and craft a compromise which eventually passed the Senate, and in turn forced the House to approve the measure. The conservative base may have been peeved, but confidence in the markets gradually returned. And he was widely praised as playing the role of “adult” in the face of misbehaving members in “the other body.”
So the greatest spectator sport in Washington next year may be watching the duel between the experienced minority leader and the brand new President, who never managed to impress his colleagues with his deal-making skills when he was a Senator. In large part, the success of Obama’s first term and the road back to political health for the GOP goes through McConnell’s office.
They could do a lot worse — both of them.
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Jennifer Rubin is PJM's Washington, DC, editor. She also blogs at Commentary’s Contentions.
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18 Comments
1. Marc Malone:This is nonsense. McConnell ran on bringing home the bacon. He’s part and parcel of the problem of pork. The Pubs need to throw him out of the leadership.
What the Pubs ought to do is allow the Dems free rein by abstaining on everything. Make it very clear that everything that happens is the fault of the Dems. When the country goes to hell, the Pubs can launch a campaign to sweep them all out like in ‘94 and permanently discredit liberalism. Of course, they’ll fix things, and obama will get the credit like Clinton did.
Nov 7, 2008 - 2:42 am 2. TomJW:Sounds good. Let’s hope McCain doesn’t finally switch over to the dems to make things harder. Also, no new ‘Gang of 14′ to work with the dems either.
Again, why was McCain the repub candidate?
Nov 7, 2008 - 4:08 am 3. cedarhill:A simple challenge and majority vote does away with the filibuster either entirely or just for the matter on the floor.
I’ve moderated my view on this to banning the filibuster on just those pieces of legislation that the Democrats can’t muster three RHINOs and calling it “critical” to be passed. Tacked onto the “critical” bill(s) will be a couple of amendments like imposition of the Fairness Doctrine.
Personally, my favorite will be allowing illegals to vote by the next election cycle in 2010 under whatever thing they call it.
Nov 7, 2008 - 5:07 am 4. Amphipolis:I hope they fight whenever and however they possibly can. The filibuster is one of the few tools conservatives have left to stop hate crime legislation, tampering with the census, raising taxes, judicial activism, etc.
Nov 7, 2008 - 5:42 am 5. geokstr:“…which Obama will show up and which agenda will he offer?”
Will we see the radical that he has been his entire life, or the so-called “moderate” that he and his sycophants in the media pretended he was just long enough to get elected?
What a silly question.
Nov 7, 2008 - 5:55 am 6. Alyssa Finnegan:Charlie Crist of Florida is responsible for putting McCain on the Republican ticket. Country club republicans wanted someone who wouldn’t be identified with Bush. But the fools should have known that anyone with an “R” behind the name would be identified with Bush this year. Consequently a lot of R voters stayed home. Game over.
The entire structure of government will change in the next two years. Democrats learned a lesson from their infighting the first two Clinton years. This time it’s a revolution that won’t be undone for decades if ever.
Nov 7, 2008 - 6:16 am 7. AnninCA:Why didn’t Crist then campaign harder for McCain? He seemed missing in action and let Florida get away.
Nov 7, 2008 - 7:23 am 8. David Thomson:“Charlie Crist of Florida is responsible for putting McCain on the Republican ticket.”
Amen. I well remember how overnight everything started to go John McCain’s way. The odds were in Mitt Romney’s until Crist switched his support from Giuliani to McCain. This turned out to be the end of the GOP’s chances in 2008. Crist only provided luke warm support for the McCain-Palin ticket. He has done enormous damage to the country.
Nov 7, 2008 - 8:52 am 9. Eppur Si:Alyssa, Democrats never learn lessons because learning a lesson requires that you have a brain, and if Democrats had any brains… well, you know.
Unfortunately, Republicans never learn lessons either because they just can’t get over the idea that someday, somehow, the NY Times is going to like them.
Nov 7, 2008 - 9:27 am 10. Austin:I am really concerned about tax hikes.
Nov 7, 2008 - 9:34 am 11. David Thomson:“The odds were in Mitt Romney’s until Crist”
Whoops, this should instead read: The odds were in Mitt Romney’s favor until Crist…
I should also add that Charlie Crist probably supported John McCain because he thought the Arizona U.S. senator was less of a threat to cultural war liberalism. The big split within the Republican Party revolves around abortion. And don’t let anyone tell you anything different! Crist was so hostile towards Sarah Palin that he ridiculed her publicly. Most assuredly, Crist perceived Romney as too religious.
Nov 7, 2008 - 9:39 am 12. David Thomson:“Unfortunately, Republicans never learn lessons either because they just can’t get over the idea that someday, somehow, the NY Times is going to like them.”
Wow, what a brilliant insight! The “maverick” John McCain was suckered into believing that media elites could be persuaded to like him. This foolish mindset contributed greatly to his defeat. On gut level, McCain thought the MSP (main stream propagandists) were going to reveal the truth about Bill Ayers and Rev. Jeremiah Wright. He could therefore sit back and do essentially nothing. Didn’t that work out well?
Nov 7, 2008 - 10:03 am 13. Donna V.:The “maverick” John McCain was suckered into believing that media elites could be persuaded to like him.
Yeah, well, he was their sweetheart in ‘00, because they could use him as a stick to beat Bush. He was like a 17 year old girl who thinks that the high school football star she’s making out with really means it when he says “I love you” and doesn’t understand why he doesn’t call her the next day.
The MSM played the same game this year with Huckabee. I remember more than a few stories from unlikely sources praising Huckabee’s folksy charm and sense of humor.
Nov 7, 2008 - 2:58 pm 14. The City Troll:I didn’t think for a minute that praise was sincere. If Huckabee had been the nominee, Mr. Folksy Charm and Squirrel Stew would have been turned into something straight out of “Deliverance.” They wanted him to get the nomination, because he would have been even easier for Obama to beat than McCain.
A message to the RNC, Time to begin the PURGE
The Victory of President-Elect Barack the Obamanation can be blamed and laid squarely at the feet of the RNC and our leaders in Congress,
It has been said from the beginning that McCain should not have been our choice, but the RNC staged the Primaries so that it could be no other. After all it was his turn.
What has it cost us? A man who palls around with terrorists and is a student and a believer in the teachings of Marx is now our President.
A man who has pledged to cut Billions from the military budget in the middle of a war, and who will systemically dismantle the greatest medical system in the world will have free reign, with a congress that believes they can run the banks and the Oil Business at least as well as they have run Medicare and Social Security.
What were we told conservatism is dead! It can’t win only elections run on bipartisan middle of the grounders can, yet where conservative ideas were on the ballot they won. Even in California Gay Marriage was defeated. I am sure that will last until The Obamanation appoints his two supreme court judges.
The Party must pay for this debacle. It is time for the party to split in two or be purged of the Rinos that now are in charge,
No where did they fight on the principles of the Constitution, no where did they point out the tell tale problems that our new President represented as the threat they are to our freedoms and economic system.
We must pledge NO support to the fools that now represent us. They had the power to fight this battle and chose not to.
The only people that spoke out were the ones on the Radio and their voices are now about to be silenced by the fairness doctrine.
There are 57 Million people who voted against the oncoming onslaught, and millions more who would have if they were given a reason or a person to stand behind.
We the base, the believers in the constitution and who understand the difference between right and wrong must now mobilize to prevent the destruction of our nation.
Nov 7, 2008 - 5:21 pm 15. myth buster:RNC
Mitt Romney couldn’t have won the nomination if McCain dropped dead on the campaign trail. He’s a shill and everyone knew it. Why do you think Romney lost WV? It’s because everyone who isn’t star-eyed with him knows Romney has no integrity and he sucks. How was he supposed to win the nomination? His experience? Huckabee had him beat there. His Commander-in-Chief credentials? Dominated by McCain. His tax policy? Too poorly executed- Huckabee did a better job selling his. Superior ground game? Have you been to the Huckabee websites? Face it, Romney outspent both of his main rivals by 3:1 combined, and he has a third place finish to show for it. Stick a fork in his career; he’s done.
Nov 8, 2008 - 3:37 pm 16. JohnRJ08:“What has it cost us? A man who palls around with terrorists and is a student and a believer in the teachings of Marx is now our President. A man who has pledged to cut Billions from the military budget in the middle of a war, and who will systemically dismantle the greatest medical system in the world will have free reign, with a congress that believes they can run the banks and the Oil Business at least as well as they have run Medicare and Social Security.”
Like the McCain/Palin campaign, the City Troll parrots the lies and distortions that failed to impress voters last Tuesday. Until the Republican Party owns up to these deceptions and starts facing reality, it will never be able to respond in a positive fashion to what genuine conservatives want. And, until its membership demonstrates that it doesn’t have to resort to the ‘big lie’ to sell its candidates, it will never have a big enough tent to win another national election. When people like The City Troll spew this kind of hateful disinformation, it’s just another self-destructive nail in the coffin of the GOP.
Nov 10, 2008 - 7:12 am 17. The Historian:FAIRNESS DOCTRINE: A FOOLS FANTASY
How and why the Democrat pursuit of talk radio will blow up in their faces:
http://greensrealworld.blogspot.com/2008/11/fairness-doctrine-fools-fantasy.html
Nov 10, 2008 - 9:35 am 18. Ms. Know:The GOP needs to fight to save those seats, so it won’t be that much of an uphill struggle to get the other left-wing illuminati out in 2010 and 2012.
Nov 14, 2008 - 12:09 pm