Jun 23, 2023·edited Jun 23, 2023Liked by John A. Daly
It sure feels like the GOP is much more comfortable playing Defense than Offense. It's much more fun and easier to complain about the policies of the party in power than to come up with policies that actually benefit the country. A couple of examples, that have nothing to do with Donald Trump:
1. Obamacare: The GOP spend 8 years passing bills repealing Obamcare in the House, knowing full well that they would go nowhere. When the GOP finally had both chambers plus the WH in 2016, they had an opportunity to unveil THEIR healthcare plan (you know, the one they had 8 years to come up with). Their response : Plan, what plan? We just want to repeal evil Obamacare, we don't actually have a plan. As a result Obamacare is the undisputed law of the land and the issue is no longer seriously discussed.
2. Abortion: The GOP had 50 years(!) to come up with a coherent abortion policy, in the event that RvW was overturned, as most Republicans claimed they wished to see happen. Now that it has actually happened, the GOP is once again caught flatfooted. This contributed to the Red Wave becoming a Red dixie cup spill (coupled of course with Trump running electable candidates out of the primaries with his nut job picks.)
So, the current Trump-infused GOP model of prioritizing complaining and grievance over actually trying to build coalitions and win elections seems to be the natural progression for the party.
It sure feels like the GOP is much more comfortable playing Defense than Offense. It's much more fun and easier to complain about the policies of the party in power than to come up with policies that actually benefit the country. A couple of examples, that have nothing to do with Donald Trump:
1. Obamacare: The GOP spend 8 years passing bills repealing Obamcare in the House, knowing full well that they would go nowhere. When the GOP finally had both chambers plus the WH in 2016, they had an opportunity to unveil THEIR healthcare plan (you know, the one they had 8 years to come up with). Their response : Plan, what plan? We just want to repeal evil Obamacare, we don't actually have a plan. As a result Obamacare is the undisputed law of the land and the issue is no longer seriously discussed.
2. Abortion: The GOP had 50 years(!) to come up with a coherent abortion policy, in the event that RvW was overturned, as most Republicans claimed they wished to see happen. Now that it has actually happened, the GOP is once again caught flatfooted. This contributed to the Red Wave becoming a Red dixie cup spill (coupled of course with Trump running electable candidates out of the primaries with his nut job picks.)
So, the current Trump-infused GOP model of prioritizing complaining and grievance over actually trying to build coalitions and win elections seems to be the natural progression for the party.
Excellent points.