Curmudgeon's Corner

Republicans Ready to Govern?

Posted by Al Campbell on July 13, 2010

Economy, Political, Quality of Life, Taxes, U.S.

The last time the Republicans had the role of leadership in our national government, they did a poor job.  They spent money that we didn’t have and that didn’t need to be spent.  Political cronies were recipients of government largess.  There seemed little, if any, conviction as to how to guide the country.  Waffling was the watchword; positions were wishy-washy.  Politics was more important than governing.  Sounds familiar doesn’t it?

The Republicans deserved to be ousted as happened with the election of Barack Obama and with the domination of both sides of Congress by the Democrats.

Now we have the coming fall election races and we have the President’s Press Secretary stating that his party could lose control of the House of Representatives.  There appears a swing back in the other direction; whether or not the swing is real remains to be seen, but all the signs are there.

This morning I read that Newt Gingrich is seriously considering a run for the presidency and will make his decision early next year.  He brings so much baggage with him that I cringe to think of the impact his entry into the race would have.  He is a brilliant thinker but doesn’t seem able to survive in office.  He would sell a lot of newspapers for the mainstream media, but likely would not stand up well over the long haul.

Mitt Romney, creator of the Massachusetts health program that was the forerunner of ObamaCare, which is already unaffordable, is certain to throw his hat into the ring.  For a conservative, such as me, he would require the holding of a nose while casting a vote in his favor.

Sarah Palin will, I hope, not become a candidate for the presidency.  Again, she has been demonized, whether rightly or wrongly, and would be even further demonized if she were to run for national office.  Maybe next time; she is still young enough to continue to build her ‘creds’ while raising money for others.  She is much brighter than the press gives her credit for being.  McCain did her no favors after she became his running mate.

Michael Steele, head of the Republican Party, seems unable to keep himself out of hot water for more than a month at a time before his mouth gets him in trouble again.

The “Young Guns” still seem to be relegated to the back of the Republican bus even though they are the deep thinkers of the party.  Paul Ryan is running uphill within his own party even though it is he and a handful of others whom the party ought to be embracing as its future.  Ryan’s ‘Roadmap’ ought to be the program on which the next presidency is decided, and it ought to be part of the congressional races this year.  It is a real and viable solution unlike most other things we see from those in office.

If the voters hand control of at least the House over to the Republicans, I hope that party will move to the more conservative positions, which the Tea Partiers espouse, when governing.  Again, voting ‘for’ someone rather than voting ‘against’ someone else is where I’d like to find myself in the next few elections.

One more flub in the use of power will find the Republicans out of office for a much longer time...and deservedly so.