Republicans Need a Leader--And An Enemy
By Bonnie Erbe, Thomas Jefferson Street blog.
Interesting question from a nationalreview.com online columnist:
Having undergone training by students of Saul Alinsky, President Obama knows the value of a good enemy. By stirring up fear and hatred toward a key figure on the other side of the battlefield, Alinsky taught, organizers can fill their war chests and rally their troops. In the 1990s, the Democrats' designated demon was Newt Gingrich. For the past several years, they counted on President Bush and Vice President Cheney.
Now that Bush and Cheney are out of power, who is next?
But to writer John Pitney I would pose the following: who is the leader of the GOP reform movement, where is the GOP going and who will be its next enemy? The GOP, in disarray, trounced at the polls last year and without obvious leadership or direction, is in much greater need of an enemy than the Democratic Party. President Obama's supporters will not tolerate the treatment the Right visited on its last great enemy: former President Bill Clinton, if vented on President Obama. So instead of asking whom the Democrats will target next, if I were a conservative I'd be much more concerned about the future of my own shell of a partisan fellowship.
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Reader Comments
"the enemy?"
BLUB LBUBBITY BLUB BLUB. U GUYS SHOULD REALLY MAKE THIS SITE MORE SECURE. BLUB BLUB. I HATE FISH.
Republicans Need A Leader - and An Enemy
The regulatory body and its duties are not written in stone. The important thing is that the G20 were able to come to a consensus. The international economists will attempt for the next several months to put in black and white the idealogy of the G20. I assure you, none of the nations want ANYONE to dictate to them what they can and cannot do. Therefore, this "regulatory body" will be thrown out. Hopefully, the economy will have righted itself by then and emergency thinking will have subsided.
Pitney Answers
Ms. Erbe asked me a couple of good questions. Here are my answers.
Who is the leader of the GOP reform movement? Right now, there is no single leader, nor should we expect one. As Charles Krauthammer says: "The idea that 72 days into the new regime, the opposition in a non-parliamentary system would have a face, or some unity, or even some overall philosophical consistency is merely silly. We do not have a shadow Cabinet. Let a thousand flowers bloom."
Who will be the GOP's enemy? Right now, President Obama is popular, but there are plenty of other political targets: Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, Tim Geithner, Charlie Rangel, John Murtha -- to name just a few. A party that controls the government will never fail to produce objects of criticism.
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