Wait For It. Plan For It.
Peter Wehner has an essay that is worth reading over at Commentary.
Some thoughts on the task ahead for the GOP:
1. Right now the attention of the country is (understandably) riveted on Obama and the Democratic Congress. There’s not a great deal Republicans can, or even should, do about that. Democrats hold the reins of power; their fate is now largely in the hands of Democrats. If the Democrats succeed and the nation prospers, they will be hard to dislodge. If they fail and the country falters, they’ll pay a price. The philosophical significance of the Obama presidency depends on whether he governs successfully (as did FDR) or poorly (as did Carter). It’s premature for either side to pretend it knows whether or not Tuesday’s election is a hinge point in American politics.
There is quite a lot more, especially the point about following neither extreme position of saying Reaganism is dead or Needs to be reclaimed. He calls it reformist versus traditionalist. I think he’s right that there is a middle course here. We can remember and embrace our Reagan roots, if you will. But we can also forge a new, more timely message to merge with and carry forward with those traditions.
For me, Reagan was, above all, a pragmatist. He did not get all his agenda enacted, not even most of it.
But he got a lot. And he got his main one. His policies crushed the Soviet Union and ended the Cold War. He chose his battles wisely.
Can we do less and expect to get what he got?
Choose battles wisely, wait for the opening. Find solid ground to fight from, drive a solid message.
The left glories in our disarray. Do not give them the satisfaction.
That simple. That difficult.
By JUDITH, November 11, 2008 @ 6:34 am
I am in doubt about President Reagan’s winning the cold war. If you read the intent of the communists, it was to undermine the family, indoctrinate the children and this has come to pass. We have elected an individual that perceives our country, our founding principles as wrong and needs to remake it in a form more similar to socialist russia. The wall came down in germany but I believe it is now living in the USA between the old traditionalists who consider the Constitution the framework of our country and the newbies who consider it merely talking points and terrifically imperfect.
By K T Cat, November 11, 2008 @ 7:16 am
The Republicans lost because they were incompetent and corrupt. (See also: Stevens, Ted.)
By Plumb Bob, November 11, 2008 @ 9:26 am
The general, cultural impression that FDR governed well is a symptom of leftist control of education. FDR governed only marginally better than Carter; his policies prolonged the depression dramatically and he attempted to shred the Constitution. His only valid claim to competence comes from his steady response to the World War, which fell in his 3rd term. FDR was popular but not effective.
However poorly Obama governs, we know that he will be treated as though he’s governing well, and in the modern world, that’s as good as actual competence until the problems become too huge to hide.
By Quilly Mammoth, November 11, 2008 @ 10:42 am
I expect the Fresh Prez of Bill Ayers to make his first error by over reaching on Gun Control.
By Mwalimu Daudi, November 11, 2008 @ 1:25 pm
No, no waiting, no planning. I must point out that time is up – and sooner than anyone expected.
Minnesota is becoming to 2008 politics what Florida was in 2000 or Washington State in 2004 — a real mess.
Just as Democrats came terrifyingly close to stealing the 2000 presidential race, they are already moving to use fraud in overturning an election in Minnesota. If they succeed, it will be a model for 2010 and beyond.
The loss of Norm Coleman’s seat is not what is at stake here. If ACORN-led fraud is allowed to go unchallenged you can expect Democrats across the nation to copy it. Fight now or possibly lose the chance forever.
Why go on making plans when the hope of carrying them out is rapidly dwindling? If Republicans don’t put up a fight now – and I do mean a bench-clearing brawl in the courts and on the floor of Congress and on the airwaves of the (for now unmolested) conservative talk radio stations – then they will get pulverized in 2010 as ACORN expands it criminal activities exponentially. A Democrat supermajority beyond the reach of the non-smart people like you and I has long been a dream of the MSM/Democrat Party axis, and may soon become a reality.
By Gaius, November 11, 2008 @ 5:36 pm
Yes, the Republicans have to fight this hard, Mwalimu. That’s a given. But they also have to start now to get alternative communication channels open, since the MSM is completely in the tank. They also have to organize, not self-destruct. That’s my point here. If they tear themselves apart there is no way they can stop the nightmare you are worried about.