The GOP plays the same old game
To the Times:
The American Rescue Plan, has been passed by Congress and is on its way to President Biden’s desk for his signature. What is remarkable about that is that public support for this legislation, despite a staggering $1.9 trillion price tag, is absolutely stunningly high. In fact, an almost unheard of 75%+ of the public supports the bill. This is based on support from 90% of Democrats, 70% of Independents and even by a significant majority of all Republicans (59%).
The truly remarkable statistic, however, is that exactly no Republicans in Congress voted for the bill, that is, zero Republicans have (publicly) voiced any support for it, despite its receiving overwhelming public support. The question is, why?
Back in 2009, shortly after the inauguration of Barack Obama as president, Republican leader Senator Mitch McConnell articulated his party’s political strategic response to Obama’s ascendancy. It was simply to deny the new president any legislative victories, regardless of their merit or value to the American people. Apparently, the GOP has decided to revert to this old playbook in 2021. Additionally, this plan’s benefits disproportionately help the economically disadvantaged, not the wealthy the GOP usually targets.
I expect that the Republicans will likely find that the world has changed, what worked in 2009, may backfire in 2021 and beyond. A party, like any living organism, must adapt to their environment, not only to prosper and thrive, but to avoid the risk of becoming extinct. The party of Lincoln and Reagan has lost sight of this Darwinian observation. They seem to be ignoring the fact that their ultimate success and even survival, is based on serving the public’s needs, not merely to cravenly try and perpetuate their power.
The GOP seems to have lost sight of the realization that it is exactly by serving the needs of the public, all of the public, that is the key to their future prospects as a party. It remains to be seen if they will re-learn this lesson in time or not.