As I mentioned
earlier, the RNC has a new video mocking President Obama's legislative agenda by, among other things, featuring an image of him consoling a grieving Newtown mother as an example of one his many defeats. One other thing worth mentioning about the video is that it celebrates the GOP's success in blocking Obama's efforts to repeal and replace the sequester. About 35 seconds into the clip (which is embedded above), the voice of CBS's Bill Plante intones over solemn music:
The gun bill failed, the sequester appears to here to stay, immigration reform is still a glimmer of hope largely because the president has stayed out of it.
The message is clear: Obama is a loser. He lost on guns. He lost on the sequester. And the only reason immigration might happen is because he's (allegedly) not even trying. Sure, there once was a time when the GOP said the sequester was the worst thing ever and even tried to launch a hashtag called #Obamaquester, but apparently they are now comfortable as a party celebrating the idea that the sequester is "here to stay" because they think it proves Obama sucks.
But as clear as the GOP message is, it really doesn't make sense. Republicans are the ones who defeated gun safety legislation and Republicans are the ones who blocked the sequester. And the only reason President Obama is keeping a low profile on immigration reform is that everybody knows that Pat Toomey was right when he said Republicans dislike the president so much that they are willing to vote against things that they support just to avoid the perception that they are helping the president.
Republicans may think they are celebrating the failure of a hapless and ineffective president (which would be great news for Mitt Romney, I guess), but what they are really doing is shining a spotlight on the fact that they are the primary source of political dysfunction in Washington, D.C. today. Just about everyone who thinks President Obama is to blame for GOP obstruction is already solidly in the GOP's camp. And just about everyone else who sees the GOP trying to blame the president will be reminded who's really at fault.