Still not getting it
By Creature
Even as polling suggests the passage of the stimulus bill was a boon for all those involved in passing it and a bust for the Republicans who obstructed it, a handful of conservative Republican governors are threatening to not take the money. Why are they making these threats? To appeal to the same conservative base that drove Congressional Republicans to make a stink about the stimulus in the first place. And, of course, these governors are brandishing their conservative bona fides with an eye towards 2012.
Have any of them been paying attention? Did John McCain not lose an election precisely because he ran a base campaign? These governors should not be trying to appeal to their conservative base, they should be trying to form a new one.
Even as polling suggests the passage of the stimulus bill was a boon for all those involved in passing it and a bust for the Republicans who obstructed it, a handful of conservative Republican governors are threatening to not take the money. Why are they making these threats? To appeal to the same conservative base that drove Congressional Republicans to make a stink about the stimulus in the first place. And, of course, these governors are brandishing their conservative bona fides with an eye towards 2012.
Have any of them been paying attention? Did John McCain not lose an election precisely because he ran a base campaign? These governors should not be trying to appeal to their conservative base, they should be trying to form a new one.
Labels: 2012 election, conservatism, Republicans, U.S. economy
posted by creature at
9:50 AM
2 Comments:
Given that playing to the right-wing base means failure -- I know it was Rove's strategy, and it may have worked in 2004, but that was an exception to the rule, with Bush benefitting from 9/11 and Kerry's weakness -- I have no problem with GOP governors doing it. The problem is that their states, and more importantly the people in their states, need the help that the stimulus money provides. So in playing to the base, and in putting their own partisan interests first, they're doing incredible harm.
By
Michael J.W. Stickings, at 10:34 AM
Yes, they are putting their own partisan interests first and doing harm. Of course, in the end, they will take the money (see Sanford).
By
creature, at 10:48 AM
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