"Bobby Jindal is the Republican Party’s problem"

[applegrove]

Bobby Jindal is the Republican Party’s problem

By Ezra Klein at the Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/06/18/bobby-jindal-is-the-republican-partys-problem/?tid=rssfeed

"SNIP..........................


Jindal gives Republicans some reasons to take heart. First, they have 30 governorships, which is true. Second, they “took control of the House in 2010 and held it in 2012,” which is true, but omits the crucial fact that Republicans got 1.5 million fewer votes in the 2012 House elections than Democrats did. Getting fewer votes than the other guy is not necessarily a good sign for a political party, even if the idiosyncrasies of congressional apportionment protected their majority. But his big argument is that Republicans just ran a bad play in 2012. ”The just completed presidential campaign strategy of playing it safe and assuming a poor economy would win it for us was an obvious mistake,” he writes.

But Jindal is proposing a variant of that exact same mistake. Instead of sitting back and waiting for the economy to win the election for Republicans, Jindal’s come up with a ridiculous caricature of liberalism and is assuming its failures will win the country back for conservatism. “Eventually Americans will rise up against this new era of big government and this new reign of politically correct terror,” he assures Republicans. When, exactly? ‘Soon,” Jindal promises.

The upside of this theory is that it frees Jindal and the rest of the Republican Party from having to do the hard work of rethinking and renewing its own governing agenda. The downside of this theory is that it’s utter nonsense. And the most damaging part of this theory is that it’s utter nonsense aimed at Jindal’s own base. Jindal isn’t talking to independents or Democrats in this op-ed. This is solely about telling Republicans what they want to hear.

That’s how the GOP becomes the stupid party: Republican Party elites like Jindal convince Republican Party activists of things that aren’t true. And that’s how the GOP becomes the losing party: The activists push the Republican Party to choose candidate decisions and campaign strategies based on those untruths, and they collapse in the light of day.

............................SNIP"

[DJ13]

1. Hey Ezra, shuddup!

If the GOP wants to make stupid blunders that damages their electability, let them.

Dont offer free advice, let them implode from their own ineptitude.

[longship]

2. IMHO, they can't help themselves.

Look what happened to Todd Akin, et al in 2012. But for the GOP Senate candidates flapping their gums, they might have taken the Senate. It was close enough that it was a possibility.

Except that the GOP is an ideological religious cabal which cannot help itself. Their whole lot in life is to witness for Christ, to speak out and save the heathens. So they cannot stop saying what they believe about things like evolution, women's health care, economic theory.

They have to witness to the only truth which has been -- dare I say -- drilled into their brains. That is, what little brains they have left after the drilling thingamabob.

Unfortunately, we have a weak president who doesn't yet see that trying to get along and compromise with abject ignorance inevitably puts one on the side of abject ignorance.

I wish I could disabuse myself of such thoughts, but alas, I cannot.

We have a very vulnerable opposition and a very weak President who will still attempt to advance his agenda (whatever that might be) by compromise. Not a good combination, IMHO.

[okaawhatever]

3. The scary part in all that is "sitting back and waiting for the economy to win the election for

the republicans". Folks, this is why the gop is fighting off any stimulus plan, any budget plan that will help the economy.
We are sitting on a recovery. We're ready for it but we need some legislation. We have to take up the issue soon so that the recovery will be in place for the 2014 elections. Remember the Clinton saying, "it's the economy, stupid"? Next time we have something come up, we have to be diligent about calling our congress people and being relentless in our approach.