Cross-posted @ To Move a Nation
There has been a recent shift that has left me confused and a bit suspicious. Maybe a couple of you have noticed it too.
During the past week and a half, I've noticed a shift in the rhetoric that Republicans are using towards the president. Whereas for the past year they have been carpet-bombing the president, they now seem to be struggling to restrain their criticism. They are also backing away from divisive tea party activists. Could they have finally realized that the American people don't want an opposition that just says "no" and a couple of standard lines about socialism? A couple of recent events make me think so.
News came this week that Marsha Blackburn has backed out of the Tea Party convention being held here in Nashville. A few days before that, Michelle Bachmann backed out. Ostensibly, the reason was their uneasiness about the organizer's decision make a profit off the convention. With all due respect to these congresswomen, do you really think that they care about how the money is coming into this thing, or what the money is going to be used for? We've known about the exorbitant price of the tickets for weeks. We've known about the organizer's profit motive for a long time as well. Why suddenly back out now, when they have known about the money issues for a long time? Are they coming to realize that rallying with the fringe elements that support the tea parties could anger a large swath of independent voters? Rep. Blackburn's decision to back out is especially striking, given that she occupies one of the safest seats in Tennessee. In fact, she won in 2008 with 68% of the vote. Franklinites adore her, as do those who live in the exurbs around Memphis. Is she actually worried about how participating in the event will make her look to her constituents (many of whom are likely to attend)? I can only conclude that she knows something that the rest of us do not. She might have been encouraged to forgo the event because it would reflect poorly on the rest of the House GOP.
Besides backing out of fringe events, did you notice the show of decorum that the Republicans put on during Obama's address? According to reports, Republican leaders pleaded with their members to muffle overt criticism of the president. They tried their best, but couldn't keep themselves from laugh out loud at the president when it was politically convenient to do so. However, just knowing that a.) GOP leadership urged respect and b.) members actually attempted to do so, says a lot - especially when compared to last fall's "You Lie" moment and straight up booing of the president.
The impetus of this entire post, however, was what happened today. A couple of weeks ago, the House GOP invited the president to speak at their retreat. Obama accepted. Watching the footage, the Republicans go way out of their way to be deferential, and are prefacing their questions with, "with all due respect," fumbling over their words, and generally just trying to show that they aren't complete assholes. It was all, "thank you, Mr. President," "You have a beautiful family, Mr. President," etc. No doubt the purpose of the event was to show that the GOP had at least made some sort of effort to work with the president.
This apparent tactical switch cannot be analyzed without putting it within the context of the 2010 elections. Last year was a great opportunity for the GOP and astroturf group to really get their base riled up. They certainly did that. Now they are coming to realize that the elected officials exploiting the Tea Party movement aren't exactly what independent voters want to lead their government. Republicans want to project an image of a party that not only can say "no" to Obama, but also has ideas and solutions to actually govern in the case that they (god forbid) take back Congress. I guess they have been noticing the polling data that shows that while the public is pretty down on the Democrats, that isn't translating into love for Republicans. The memory of six years worth of united Republican government is too fresh in the minds of voters. They need to do something to show that they are actually trying to remedy America's maladies.
Yet though they've just recently adopted this slightly more cordial approach, the things that transpired at today's retreat may result in a tweaking of their strategy. If you've been paying attention, you'll notice that the event was televised (at the insistence of Obama). Obama also agreed to take questions from Republicans after he made a short speech. Republicans were hesitant to televise it, but probably expected that they would be able to make the president look like a buffoon since they had the home court advantage.
What actually happened was quite different. After speaking for about twenty minutes, Obama took questions from Republican congressmen for over an hour. He was remarkably candid. He spoke plainly. He calmly stated his disappointment with the tactics of their party. He refuted their talking points. The result? He was kicking so much GOP ass that Fox News decided to stop broadcasting the event.
Given the fact that the president laid the intellectual smack-down on the right, Republicans are likely to shy away from hosting more of these events in the future. They know their ideas are tired and have already been tried and failed. They know Obama is a masterful debater. Giving the president a public forum to criticize them is not a good PR strategy.
Essentially, the Republicans are left with a dilemma. They need to show America that they know how to work with the president to find solutions, but without making themselves vulnerable to (very) damaging criticism. They need to show America that they don't really embrace all the hooey of the tea party attendees, but at the same time they don't want their base to feel like they've been left hanging.
On top off all that - and I hope this is true: they just might find themselves up against a president who is finally more engaged and looking for a fight.