The GOP’s stunning success in the midterm election last week can be interpreted many ways depending on which side of the political fence you stand on. Regardless of the interpretation though, what is relevant is how the GOP interprets their big win and what they intend to do for the next two years.
After spending the past six years dedicated to their anti-Obama crusade, the GOP has no track record of accomplishments. One would expect that having gained control of Congress, they are now in a position to accomplish things to benefit the American people. The problem though is that the GOP has a dilemma – they don’t seem to know how to abandon their futile anti-Obama crusade and they don’t recognize the responsibility they now have.
What good is success when you don’t know what it means and you don’t know how to use it? This is a challenge for the GOP because instead of presenting arguments on how they are going to accomplish results that will be beneficial for the country, they are continuing on the same old pattern of political rhetoric that includes repealing ObamaCare, calling the president incompetent, and threatening to impeach the president if he follows through with executive action on immigration reform.
Yesterday Speaker Boehner gave a press conference to introduce the new congressional leadership team. If you watched this press conference then you realize why the GOP has not been able to accomplish any real work – they lack leadership and vision. How can you not draw this conclusion when the speaker made the following comments?
• We are going to fight the president tooth and nail
• All the options are on the table
• No decisions have been made and how we will proceed
These statements are not what you expect from a leader of Mr. Boehner’s stature because they indicate divisiveness, no intent to compromise on anything, and that they really have no plan on what they want to accomplish. Imagine if President Obama made any of the above comments. The conservative media would have ratcheted up their anti-Obama propaganda.
The GOP is behaving as if the midterm election result is a license renewal for their anti-Obama crusade. They are also behaving like political neophytes because it makes no sense in wanting to pick a fight with a lame duck president. To continue the anti-Obama crusade at this stage means only one thing – they are hell bent on destroying the legacy of President Obama.
President Obama has two years remaining in the White House and it is unfortunate that the GOP is going to spend the next two years trying to bring down the president. You would think that the GOP would realize by now that they are going down the path of futility. Continuing the anti-Obama crusade is not politically smart as it will hurt the GOP in 2016, it will hurt the American people, and it will set a bad example for the rest of the world.
Mel Shim is the author of Whom God Has Blessed, Let No Man Curse (Infinity Press, 2013) and A New Perspective on Race-related Problems in Corporate American Companies (Outlook Press, 2013). http://www.jermelshim.com