Democrats Presented GOP with Golden Opportunity During Shutdown

It is awfully frustrating for conservatives to see their leaders and wealthy supporters fail to exploit a proverbial “gift on a golden platter”.

During the recent Senate-caused shutdown, the Democrats were on the wrong side of an emotional issue usually occupied by the GOP.  Alas, conservatives failed to take advantage of the opportunity.

 

Almost automatically, when conservative proposals are made to cut or slow government spending, Democrats trot out “widows and orphans” for the media who will be harmed and warn of cutbacks in, for instance, police and fire department services.

But Senate Democrats were recently on the wrong side of the emotional appeal.

    

During the shutdown, the GOP House proposed continuing all government funding with the exception of Obamacare.  Senate Majority leader Harry Reid said no.

That set the stage for CNN reporter Dana Bash to ask Reid why he didn’t support immediate resumption of National Institute of Health funding so that cancer patients could receive care?  He paused, mumbled something, and then pretended to have been insulted by the question.

The GOP should have pounced.  The President and the Democrats caused unforgiveable harm to people in need because they stubbornly clung to Obamacare despite its unpopularity.  They were running roughshod over the public good in pursuit of their leftist agenda.

 

Thus, Republicans were presented with the opportunity to attack the Administration and Senate Democrats with a position that had immediate and obvious political appeal.

 

This had the potential to reverse public sentiment ascribing more blame to the Republican Party than the Democrats for the government shutdown.

As the question from the CNN reporter made clear, the GOP position resonated beyond the usual conservative base.  Alas, we failed to effectively exploit the opportunity. 

Fox News and the Wall Street Journal helped but more was needed.  This was the time for coordinated action.  There should have been talking points so that the message was consistent and widely disseminated.  There should have been internet ads hitting the Democrats hard with sympathetic victims featured to help spread the message.  But very little of what was necessary was done. 

It is of little consolation now to say that if Republicans had mounted an effective campaign to exploit the gift given to them by Senate Democrats, political pressure might have been sufficient to have caused the President, instead of the House, to surrender.

Have we learned anything?