A few quick thoughts about fighting the Dems on the Hill while winning vital support from voters. I’ll send out a more detailed memo on this tomorrow.
First, we have the right actions (well, most of our GOP’ers on the Hill do). Our strong fiscal conservative stand against the budget and stimulus package achieves two things: 1) rebuilds strained relationships with the softer edges of our base who are driven more by fiscal issues than social issues, 2) demonstrates that we can, as a party, make a principled stand.
Second, our language bashing the spending is good (Spend. Tax. Borrow. Repeat), but we are still struggling to offer alternative solutions. A successful opposing stand includes two steps: 1) demonstrating that the Dem approach is flawed (for a number of compelling reasons), followed by, 2) a roll-out of an alternative approach, giving Republicans and Independents alike a chance to back a plan that is more in-line with their ideologies.
Overall, things are shaping up nicely for Republicans in 2010. The Dems are anchoring themselves to huge spending bills that have few mechanisms to truly stimulate the economy in the near future. The American public will only be patient for a limited amount of time, giving way to buyers remorse by Nov 2010.
But, what about the news about Congressional job approval increasing? Doesn’t that mean that the American public is happy with the Dem plan? No, actually – a closer look shows that the boost in job approval is driven substantially by Democrat voters who are optimistically embracing their new found power on the Hill. Republicans and Independents are still very pessimistic, giving only a slightly more positive response likely because the perception of something being done on the Hill is more attractive than the stalemate we’ve experienced over the past several years.
Keep in mind that even though there is an increase in approval, the level of support for Congress is still very, very low. This is perfect for the dozens of challengers races the Republicans will be waging nationwide over the next two years.
Fighting the Dems and Winning Votes
Posted by Tyler Harber on Thursday, March 12th, 2009 at 1:33 PM
A few quick thoughts about fighting the Dems on the Hill while winning vital support from voters. I’ll send out a more detailed memo on this tomorrow.
First, we have the right actions (well, most of our GOP’ers on the Hill do). Our strong fiscal conservative stand against the budget and stimulus package achieves two things: 1) rebuilds strained relationships with the softer edges of our base who are driven more by fiscal issues than social issues, 2) demonstrates that we can, as a party, make a principled stand.
Second, our language bashing the spending is good (Spend. Tax. Borrow. Repeat), but we are still struggling to offer alternative solutions. A successful opposing stand includes two steps: 1) demonstrating that the Dem approach is flawed (for a number of compelling reasons), followed by, 2) a roll-out of an alternative approach, giving Republicans and Independents alike a chance to back a plan that is more in-line with their ideologies.
Overall, things are shaping up nicely for Republicans in 2010. The Dems are anchoring themselves to huge spending bills that have few mechanisms to truly stimulate the economy in the near future. The American public will only be patient for a limited amount of time, giving way to buyers remorse by Nov 2010.
But, what about the news about Congressional job approval increasing? Doesn’t that mean that the American public is happy with the Dem plan? No, actually – a closer look shows that the boost in job approval is driven substantially by Democrat voters who are optimistically embracing their new found power on the Hill. Republicans and Independents are still very pessimistic, giving only a slightly more positive response likely because the perception of something being done on the Hill is more attractive than the stalemate we’ve experienced over the past several years.
Keep in mind that even though there is an increase in approval, the level of support for Congress is still very, very low. This is perfect for the dozens of challengers races the Republicans will be waging nationwide over the next two years.