Playing to Win

Judd Gregg and Mitch McConnell have each weighed in on what the GOP need to do to succeed with its new majority.

Leader McConnell says the GOP needs to "not be scary," language reminiscent of George W. Bush's declaration that he was a "compassionate conservative." I guess that made Republicans who disagreed with him lacking in compassion. 

More ominously, Sen. Gregg cautions against using budget reconciliation to roll over Democrats much as they did the GOP in the passage of Obamacare. He points out at the backlash that has followed the Democrats since the passage of their signature legislation. 

Unfortunately, it appears the GOP leadership makes the same mistake too many Republican Presidential candidates have made: playing Marquis of Queensbury rules against folks reading from the Saul Alinsky play book. 

Sen. Gregg makes the mistake of thinking that the Onamacare backlash was the process. The real reason is the utter debacle that the law has created in terms of insurance coverage and costs. 

I mean Harvard professors are complaining about it. 

If the law worked, does Sen. Gregg honestly think the public would care about the niceties of its passage?

The real issue is that conservative policies work and Leftist policies fail. The problem conservatives have is a lack of effective spokespeople for their policies and a popular culture whose elites are warriors for the Left. 

So based on this reality, put on the brass knuckles and fight for our policies. 

Be prepared for the tsk-tsk of editorial boards. 

Be prepared to made fun of on SNL.  

Be prepared not to get invited to parties. 

The horror!

Sen. Gregg misses the basic point of Obamacare. It passed. It's law. Obama won and he won because he fought. He didn't bother with niceties. He didn't care about collegiality. 

He cared about winning because, as he's stated, he believes in fundamentally transforming America. 

Our leaders damn well better have that same level to commitment to protecting us from that transformation. 

We are at a gut check moment. This is a time for the GOP leadership to decide I it actually stands for conservative principles or not. 

That means not taking options off the table. That's the kind of amateur hour diplomacy for which we mock Obama in his handling of foreign affairs. 

Then our genius leaders apply the same tactics at home?

Unfortunately, the milquetoast GOP leadership has, with the last budget bill, given us one trillion reasons to think their main concern about Democrats having a better position at the trough instead of the fact that there's so much slop flowing in the first place. 

It's time to fight. 

It's time to win.