“In the end it didn’t pass because we’re so politicized. There are some on my side who did not want to be seen helping the president do something he wanted to get done, just because the president wanted to do it.”
Senator Pat Toomey (R. Pa.) Co-author of the failed legislation on background checks
It is hard to find common ground when the people you are dealing with are motivated by a spiteful vendetta rather than the common good.
“The single most important thing we want to achieve is for Barak Obama to be a one term president.”
Since the day Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R. Ky.) uttered those infamous words Republicans have done everything in their power to thwart the president’s agenda. They have used obfuscation, demagoguery and outright lies to paint this president and his policies as “un-American.”They have not allowed opinion polls, public pressure or facts to stand in their way.
In some respects they have been rewarded for their efforts. They took back control of the House in 2010 and gained additional seats in both chambers in 2012. Their game plan has worked on a local congressional level.
But it has been an utter failure in the general elections. Republicans have lost the popular vote in 5 of the last 6 national elections, and Barak Obama defeated his Republican opponents by a landslide in each of the last two.
Republicans have flatly denied that they have become the party of “No.” They say that their disagreements with the president are “philosophical” and their unwillingness to support his agenda is “supported by the will of the people.”
Whatever the rationale, their “philosophy” and polarizing rhetoric has served to significantly weaken the Republican Party’s influence in national politics. Thanks to firebrands like Ted Cruz and Rand Paul women, gays, Asians, Hispanics, and students are turning away in droves.
The Republican response to the massive erosion of support among these groups…
…“Our policies are sound…we just need to talk to them as if they are our equals.”
Reince Preibus, Chairman Republican National Party
Republicans view the world from a windowless room. Their party platform has but one plank…stop Obama.
Senator Toomey did not tell us anything that we didn’t already know. But the fact that he said it speaks volumes.
Kudos to Senator Toomey for speaking the truth!
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