What’s the Republican game plan for winning back the Senate? We now have the answer. The NRSC just threw its cards on the table for everybody to see. No secret sources or brilliant investigative journalism required.
I first started to realize something was up when one of my Senators -- Lamar! Alexander (R-TN) to be exact -- issued a press release today that uses the phrase "tyranny of the majority" no less than four times including the title.
Here’s a little taste:
Yesterday a member of our Republican side moved his desk to the other side, potentially giving that side of the aisle 60 votes and raising the prospect that we would have no check and balance on one-party rule – the genuine risk of what de Tocqueville called ‘tyranny of the majority.’
(emphasis mine)
Or try a little of this:
And in addition, there is the prospect of no check and balance on one-party rule, which risks what the perceptive young Frenchman, Alexis de Tocqueville, said in the early 1800s was the greatest threat to the new American Democracy: the ‘tyranny of the majority.’"
Yeah, it’s pretty clear he was trying to sledge hammer that point home.
But it’s not just Alexander playing this little game. Take a listen to Sen. John Cornyn, Republican of Texas and head of the NRSC:
the complete absence of any checks and balances in Washington could have a significant impact on next year's midterm elections.
Here he is again:
...the dangerous ramifications of unbridled, one-party rule in Washington. Come November 2010, this may ultimately be viewed as a positive development in the Republican Party's climb back to power.
Sounds a lot like Alexander, right? It’s no coincidence. They’re reading from the exact same talking points. In fact, Cornyn spells it right out for you:
This is a message our Senate candidates will carry across our great country as we work to rebuild the Republican Party in November 2010.
There you have it. The NRSC plan to win back seats in the Senate. Straight from the horse’s mouth. The Republicans are going to run around like Chicken Little shouting that electing too many Democrats is "tyranny" and the "greatest threat" to democracy since the birth of our nation.
Yes, I know you’re shocked -- SHOCKED! -- to find out it all comes down to fear-mongering. But you know what? I love it. I’m all for it. Because it’s the stupidest plan I’ve ever heard.
The big bad evil thing they’re "fear-mongering" about is democracy itself. They’re angry that the voters keep electing someone else. Bad voters!! It’s all your fault! Stop voting for the candidates you like best! It’s dangerous! DAAAAAANNNNNGEROUS!!!
Yeah, that’ll win ‘em over.
Let me give you a clue on this one, Senators, since you clearly don’t have one. When the overwhelming majority of voters choose the other side, it’s not the voters’ fault. It’s not even the Democrats’ fault. It’s all on you.
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Great big hat tip to Whiskey Fire for collecting those Cornyn quotes -- and for pointing that’s not what "checks and balances" means. It’s all about the three branches of government keeping each other in check, not the two political parties.