RALEIGH — Here is the question: In the 2010 congressional elections, should Republicans run out the clock or provide a bold agenda?
Currently the internal debate among Republican institutionalists (those who run the Republican National Committee and various other Republican organizations in Washington, D.C.), many Republican Beltway consultants, and other voices is whether Republican candidates for Congress should just oppose the Obama, Pelosi, Reid agenda, or outline a road map of where Republicans would take this country.
The prevailing attitude among the D.C. consulting class is that just defining Obama’s radical agenda with TV, mail, and radio campaigns will carry Republicans across the finish line in the fall — capturing the House and making substantial gains in the U.S. Senate.
Their view is that playing on the public’s anger and resentment of the federal government’s intrusion into so many aspects of our daily lives will suffice.
And the “Republican institutionalists” also conclude that the average taxpayer is alarmed sufficiently about federal spending, deficits, and the national debt. Not to mention Obama’s apologetic “blame America first” foreign policy.
As I have written in the past, I still believe that Republicans and conservatives have an obligation to hammer home how President Obama is transforming America.
Increasingly, independent voters, the swing vote, understand that Obama’s policy prescription for America is wrongheaded.
And make no mistake: Obama’s team realizes that his majority is in play. One only has to reference the recent remarks on “Meet the Press” by Obama Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, who said, “I think there’s no doubt there are enough seats in play that could cause Republicans to gain control. There’s no doubt about that.”
That statement by an Obama insider and loyalist sent shock waves into the Democratic leadership and was followed by immediate tensions between Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Obama’s White House team.
Chaos ensued briefly before a quick meeting was called at the White House with the Democratic congressional leadership to reassure their base and donors that indeed “all was well within the family.”
In fact, the plan or strategy Obama’s team came up with is to make this fall’s election a referendum on George W. Bush years.
By taking this approach, Democrats have made the case for a Republican governing document or “Contract with America” similar to what Newt Gingrich offered in 1994: a plan of action or blueprint that is bold in scope and not vague in direction.
House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, plans to unveil a Republican agenda after Labor Day tentatively titled “Commitment to America.”
Boehner, in my view, correctly perceives that although the attacks on Obama’s agenda are necessary and justified, he also thinks that GOP candidates will not be trusted unless they provide an agenda for governing.
To quote Ronald Reagan in a speech he made to the Conservative Political Action Committee conference in 1975:
“Is it a third party we need, or is it a new and revitalized second party, raising a banner of no pastels, but bold colors, which make it unmistakably clear where we stand on all of the issues troubling the people?”
Marc Rotterman worked on the national campaign of Reagan for President in 1980, served on the presidential transition team in 1980, worked in the Reagan administration from 1981-1984, is a senior fellow at the John Locke Foundation, and a former member of the board of the American Conservative Union.