Republicans are stupid

Five Ways the Republicans Can Blow it in November

By Rod Pennington

Famous 20^th century newspaper curmudgeon H.L. Mencken once noted, “No one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the America public.” Unfortunately, the same can be said about Republicans in Washington.

This November should be an historical blowout. We’re not talking 1994 and the Gingrich revolution. Think 1856. With the Democrats on the wrong side of the Missouri and Kansas slavery issue, they went from 156-78 seats in the House of Representatives to 79-151. From this wreckage a new party emerged. Four years later Abraham Lincoln became the first Republican president and the rest, as they say, is history.

While no one expects Democratic loses in the House to reach triple digits, a control shift should be a “gimme” and a comfortable working majority for the Republicans likely.

However, never underestimate the intelligence of the Republicans. There are 5 ways they can blow it in November and they are already well on their way.

Keep Michael Steele as the head of the RNC. He has been a long term embarrassment. Between his mouth, ego and lavish personal spending he has badly wounded the Republican brand. That he is still around after shoving both feet in his mouth up to the knees recently by saying the Afghan War belongs to President Obama is mindboggling.

Not Listening to the Tea Party. The Tea Party movement is the Republican’s conservative base. Without them they will not win many elections. From 2004 – 2006, with a Republican in the White House and the Grand Old Party holding both houses of Congress, they were horrified by what they saw. House Appropriations Committee Chairman Jerry Lewis (R-CA) went on a spending spree that had President Reagan spinning in his grave. On the Senate side they were voting for “Bridges to Nowhere” for the corrupt Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK). Meanwhile, President Bush did not veto a single bill in his first 6 years in office. In 2006 and 2008 these folks stayed home. The recent swipe at these folks by the insipid Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) won’t help suave the hurt feelings.

Listening to the Tea Party too much. Full of energy and emotion, the Tea Party people often will move too far to the right. Harry Reid was a dead man walking for his reelection in November. That was until the Tea Party folks flexed their muscle and put a total nut job, Sharron Angle, up against him. Reid, who had been consistently down double digits in the polls to any of a handful of other Republicans, has surged into the lead against Angle.

Keep the same messaging people who got you into this mess in the first place. The Republicans are horrible at “staying on message” or, for that matter, even getting on message. Last week they were raked across the coals for not supporting an extension in unemployment benefits. Why wasn’t every Republican in Washington calling a press conference announcing they would support the bill if only it would come from the unspent Stimulus money? Where were they when Speaker Pelosi said this was the best stimulus possible since it would be spent immediately and help the economy? “We agree with Speaker Peleosi!” The Republicans are lousy when it comes to messaging. They lack creativity and they are slow to respond.

Keep the same spokespeople. Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) should be replaced with fresh faces. McConnell reminds Americans of the mumble-mouthed professor they never could quite understand from college and Boehner looks like a smoked ham. If they want to win in November they need a pair of fresh faces. The perfect choice for the Senate would be Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA). Sexy, articulate and when he calls a press conference everyone shows up. For the House, Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA) would be an improvement but not by much. Rep Paul Ryan (R-WI) was a superstar during the health care debate. Will the Republicans leadership be willing to put ego aside for 4 months for the good of the party? Not likely.

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