Cleave This Party in Two [View all]

[babylonsister]

I like it, though they seem to be doing a fine job of it all by themselves.

http://www.boomantribune.com/story/2013/10/22/11265/669


Cleave This Party in Two

by BooMan
Tue Oct 22nd, 2013 at 11:26:05 AM EST


Yesterday, Governor John Kasich (R-OH), muscled home a Medicaid expansion over the disapproval of his own legislature. Meanwhile, Governor Chris Christie (R-NJ) relented on gay marriage in the Garden State by refraining from any more court appeals. Both of these decisions represent irreversible victories for the left. Irreversible victories are fundamentally different from ordinary victories, and they are especially powerful when the result has the blessing, however reluctant, of our political opposition.

As regular readers know, I have been kicking around the idea of shattering the Republican Party into two irreconcilable pieces by having the Democrats agree to join with moderate Republicans to elect a replacement for Speaker Boehner. I know that this seems like a pipe dream, but there is fresh evidence emerging every day that it has a kind of logical force that could make it a reality.


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Can Republican lawmakers who represent districts outside of the Deep South survive this kind of public disapproval? I'd argue that they might survive it if they can repair some of the damage, but they can't survive it if the damage is exacerbated and brought closer to election day. If these Republicans want to save themselves, they must make a break with the conservative movement, and they must make that break now.

For the Democrats, all they have to do is to make the offer and keep making it. Join with us and pass immigration reform. Join with us and pass a Farm Bill. Join with us and pass a balanced budget plan. Join with us and form a governing majority in the House that sidelines the Tea Party. They don't have to agree to it, but refusing the offer will only serve to highlight the need to remove these folks from power.

It's one more example where we can further the destruction of the modern GOP simply by being reasonable and offering them what they say they want. If they agree, the Tea Party is sidelined. If they don't agree, the party gets wiped out. Either way, we win.