Commentary: Why GOP can't say 'whatever it is, we're against it'

[babylonsister]

Commentary: Why GOP can't say 'whatever it is, we're against it'

By Julian E. Zelizer
Special to CNN

Julian Zelizer says it's not enough for Republicans to oppose Obama's plans, they must offer their own ideas.


PRINCETON, New Jersey (CNN) -- One of the best Marx Brothers movies, "Horse Feathers," played in movie theaters at the height of the Great Depression in 1932.

In the film, the comedian Groucho Marx played the new president of Huxley College, Quincy Adams Wagstaff.

During one of the most memorable scenes, Groucho introduces himself to faculty and students by singing about his philosophy of governance: "Your proposition may be good/But let's have one thing understood/ Whatever it is, I'm against it!/And even when you've changed it or condensed it, I'm against it/ I'm opposed to it/On general principle. I'm opposed to it."

If Republicans want to rebuild their party after the calamity of 2008, the party leadership needs to avoid the Quincy Adams Wagstaff approach to politics.

When Obama proposed his economic recovery bill last week, the first words to come out of House Minority Leader's John Boehner's mouth sounded a bit like Wagstaff.

With the economy imploding and the international economic crisis worsening, Boehner said: "Right now, given the concerns that we have over the size of the package and all of the spending in this package, we don't think it's going to work. And so if it's the plan that I see today, put me down in the 'no' column."

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has been more restrained in his response, leaving open the door to compromise.

If Boehner is simply acting as Dr. No to get a better deal, Republicans can come out of the negotiations over the economic recovery bill as partners, planting the seeds for a new Republican approach toward dealing with economic matters.

But if Boehner's plan is for his party to act as an oppositional force -- trying to block, delay and prevent legislative action -- then the GOP could find itself in big trouble.

more...

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/01/27/zelizer.republicans/index.html

Editor's note: Julian E. Zelizer is a professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School. He is completing a book on the history of national security politics since World War II, to be published by Basic Books. Zelizer writes widely on current events.

[RoyGBiv]

1. Whigs ...

So, basically, they've reverted to their roots and have become the Whig party all over again.

Nice.

[OnceUponTimeOnTheNet]

2. This was an excellent read, Thanx! K&R