The Captain of the Ship
By Erick Posted in Republicans — Comments (13) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
You have to feel sorry for John Boehner to some degree. He was not Majority Leader long enough to really stem the tide of moral vacuity that got purged from Congress on Tuesday and yet now, with the loss, he is being challenged for leader -- a move I support despite liking Congressman Boehner.
You see, I believe it is time for the progenitors of the 1994 Conservative Revolution to pass on the torch to the heirs of 1994 -- to the guys with fresh ideas. Undoubtedly, Congressman Boehner championed the Contract with America and the 1996 "Freedom to Farm" Act, but he is also now fully integrated in the Republican institutional establishment, something voters on Tuesday made clear they were unhappy with. It certainly is not his fault, but it changes nothing. And I'm worried he has few fresh ideas.
Congressman Boehner himself made my point on Tuesday night.
Read on . . .
On January 22, 2004, Congressman Mike Pence spoke about the conservative agenda to CPAC, repeating something he had said in 2003. He said, in part:
"It's time for conservative Americans to right the ship again."
On February 10, 2006, again at CPAC, Congressman Pence said:
"There are signs that our ship is turning.... It is you (Conservatives) who will steer our ship toward Morning in America and to that shining city on the hill."
Well, Congressman Boehner sought to answer Mike Pence on the day after the election and could get no more original than to echo Mike Pence's own words, saying:
"We did make progress toward righting the ship over the last two years."
Now, I ask you, did we make progress toward righting the ship in the last two years? And do you want the guy who coined the phrase or cribbed the phrase being our leader?
It is time for the progenitors of 1994 to pass the torch to the heirs of 1994. It is time for Mike Pence to be Leader of the House Republicans.
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The Captain of the Ship 13 Comments (0 topical, 13 editorial, 0 hidden) Post a comment »
...the loss was due to:
1) Iraq
2) Corruption
3) Bush
4) and uncontrolled government growth
Yeah, we did get two new SCOTUS members through, but that's a very abstract concept for most people when they are inside the voting booth. Outside of that win, the 109th Congress didn't deliver very much to be proud of, I'm afraid to say.
Our next leader must _want_ to champion our cause. Our next leader must want to convince people that our ideas are the best ideas. Our leader must be on fire for our cause. Our leader must not be John Boehner.
_In a world full of twists and turns, the ultimate twist...is a straight line._
There is nothing wrong with the ones we had. We just need to implement them.
Conservatives have this need for "new leaders" who they always think are the answer to whatever the current problem is. We need new leaders in some places but the House is not it.
The need now in the House is for a leader who can assemble a working coalition with the conservative Democrats, new and old. If we can do that we can successfuly block the worst ideas that Pelosi and Reid will come up with. (From what I'm hearing I don't have any faith the Bush will do so.)
Let me quote from this piece.
Conservatives in general rely too much on individual brilliance among our leadership. We have done well in finding outstanding and creative leaders, and one failure of the Republicans in Congress was a failure of imagination and vigor, such as we might expect from Reagan, Gingrich and George W. Bush in foreign policy. Liberals build institutions, conservatives wait for individuals to emerge. Over the long run, institutions tend to win.
That's a major weakness on our part. We need to break away from this dependancy on the Brilliant Leader model of politics.
We are conservatives. What we need are old ideas, the ones that have stood the test of time. Tuesday's defeat was in large part because Republicans abandoned those ideas.
This program really hurt the cause.The program wasnt wanted and it will be as expensive to run as social security.We became Big Government Republicans.Too late to scale the program back.
Even though I stayed true to the GOP, they didn't stay true to us. The MediCare Drug program is just one aspect of what the Republicans did wrong in Congress. They failed to show back bone, trying to hard to work with the Democrats instead of telling them if they didn't like the agenda to build a bridge and get over it. Anyone seriously think the Wicked Witch of San Fran is going to work with the Republicans? Given the chance she will try to go for the kill on us. We need leaders who will tell her that they will oppose every harebrained scheme she comes up with and go to the press EVERYTIME she proposes something, just like she did to the Republicans. Bad mouth her every chance they get; point out every mistake, every misstep she takes. Push the "Culture of Corruption" meme everytime a Dim gets caught doing something illegal. Let it be known in the Republican caucus that NO tolerance for anything even closely resembling an infraction of the law. Don't go pushing the envelope, follow the letter of the law to a "T". No extra perks, no "fact finding" trips to exotic locations on taxpayer or lobbyist dime, etc. Let the Dims do it, and scream long and loud about it.
No mercy, no quarter!
"A touch of grey kinda suits you anyway."
Absolutely. She'll peel off every possible turncoat to the conservative cause as someone who is working with her in a bipartisan way that shows the pathway to the future and how Dems can lead a bipartisan coalition. This will be reinforced by the MSM focusing glowing beams of adulation on the same turncoats for all the nation to see while saying what nice people they are. Not to pick on anyone in particular, but McCain and Spector come to mind.
Are you SERIOUS? This has to be the most PATHETIC and juvenille "attack" - if you can call it that - I've ever seen. If this is what we can expect from a Pence Minority, I want no part of it. If you're going to attack Boehner, do it for using a tired cliche. Don't do it because you think your guy coined said tired cliche.
Unbelievable.
The House GOP needs leadership if it is to return to its first principles. Boehner provided that when he helped write the Contract With America with which Pence is infatuated. He's provided that in his stance against pork and in his ability to craft legislation that, while not perfect, represents conservative ideals while often garnering bipartisan support. And he has provided leadership this year. The GOP's problems were not caused by Boehner, though he has worked - dilligently - to remedy them. Pence has stood on the sidelines and told bloggers what they want to hear. This sort of nonsense exemplifies that.
I like Pence a lot. But this sort of defense makes me sick. Shadegg for Leader. Boehner for Leader. But not Pence. Not if "righting the ship" is his and his alone.
If Pence's idea of leadership is still to rubber stamp Teddy Kennedy's amnesty-for-illegal-aliens bill, then he belongs in the Democratic leadership, not the Republican.
President Bush has reaffirmed his support for amnesty, and his intention to push it through Congress. Pence and Boehner should both be asked their positions before the leadership election.
This may be the first important issue that the new leadership acts on next year. If Republicans let the amnesty go through without a fight, it will mean we stay in the minority for a long, long time.
I don't like it any more than you do, but we lost the House.
The Senate was already on board, and Bush thinks it is a good idea. The only place it was stopped last session was in the House. But the House unlike the Senate is organized so the majority can push their bills through. So Pelosi and company push "comprehensive immigration reform" through the House, it sails through the Senate, and Bush signs it to show how bipartisanship can work. Nobody in the House Republican leadership is going to be able to stop it, no matter how passionately opposed to it they are.
This immigration "amnesty" might just be the one issue that finally brings our side out into the streets. It would mean the end of our country, and it can never happen.
If the people speak, this will not happen.
During the heat of the election when Mark Foley's disgusting activities were made public, what did Boehner and Blunt do? Did they demand accountability and take control of the situation? Did they actually fight against Nancy Pelosi who had this same thing happen in her own party 15 years ago?
No, they ran home to their districts and blamed it on Denny Hastert.
In those moments, those two Congressman showed their true colors. They made it evident that they are not tough enough to lead a fight to get conservatives back into the majority.
The fact of the matter is, we need leadership that will fight the good fight. Leadership that is not afraid of Nancy Pelosi or President Bush. Boehner and Blunt are part of the problem. We need articulate people who care about Policy and can go on TV or to the oval office and say why they will not support stupid policy.
Minority Leader - Joe Barton
Minority Whip - John Shadegg
Conference Chair - Marsha Blackburn
I don't think we need ideas now. The Democrats just won without any agenda. We need action, not just words. Action means (politically) ripping the Democrats' throats out, like they did to us.
Neither speech really impressed me. Let's see which one of them scores the first hit on Nancy Pelosi, or points out the first scandal in the Democratic Congress.