GOP grasps for a branch

By Jennifer J. Foster

Published: January 26, 2009

Did you see the clip of Rush Limbaugh last week saying that he wants President Obama “to fail?“

If not, here it is:

I thought about blogging about this when it happened, but for whatever reason, I just didn’t get around to it. I was going to say that Limbaugh’s point, when taken in context, isn’t at all objectionable: He’s couching his “hope” for Obama’s failure in terms of the political differences he has with the new president. Obama is sweeping into office with a tremendous emphasis on the federal government and what it can do, as opposed to states and what powers they should have. In addition, Limbaugh says, as a capitalist, he is never in favor of policies that would redistribute wealth, and since he views Obama’s economic policies as doing just that, he hopes they fail, too.

Here’s the problem, though: Most folks just hear the “I hope he fails” part. They don’t hear the explanation, and most of them wouldn’t care to hear it, anyway.

Sure, you can say that it’s their ignorance and their refusal to get the whole story that is the genesis of some of their opposition to the GOP. They don’t support Republican policies, GOPers say, because they don’t listen to them long enough to understand them.

And there’s probably some truth to that.

But opposition is opposition, and for thousands of downballot Republican candidates for state and local offices all over the country, that makes Limbaugh a big problem. They are saddled with his poor messaging, and they pay an ugly price with voters at the polls for Limbaugh’s one-liners.

I was quickened to this story by the most recent offering from GOP consultant Rich Galen. His current column, “How do you solve a problem like Obama?“, lays out a simple but effective plan for the GOP to find its way back in time for midterms next year: Find the chink in the political armor of the seemingly invincible president, Galen says, and exploit it. The president will suffer political wounds that will eventually make him vulnerable to being lumped in with congressional Democrats, who lead a Congress with some of the lowest approval ratings in history.

Sounds like a good plan.

But curiously missing from Galen’s otherwise ingenious scheme is any mention of an overall theme that will drive Republicans’ opposition to Obama’s agenda. His plan is a tactical one; the points where the GOP will make its stand against the new president are regarded as an afterthought, at best, and inconsequential, at worst.

What message does this send to one in four Americans—the conservative Democrats, independents and moderate Republicans—who are looking for someone, anyone, to stand up and provide an alternative to the Obama agenda?

On one hand, they’re hearing, “I hope he fails.“ On the other, they’re hearing, “It doesn’t matter where we win, as long as we win.“

That’s the message?

No wonder the GOP is in such shambles.