political challengers Archives - Page 28 of 28 - Common Sense with Paul Jacob

A Plan for Republicans?

Three. Count ’em. Three special elections where congressional Democrats have defeated Republicans in seats previously held by Republicans, the latest in Mississippi.

GOP Minority Leader John Boehner offered reporters, “[T]his is a change election, and if we want Americans to vote for us, we have to convince them that we can fix Washington.”

Republicans are in big trouble. Because no one much believes they even want to fix Washington, much less that they could accomplish the task. Unless Boehner means “fix” in a different sense, as in “the fix is in.”

Years of pork-barrel pig-outs have taken a toll on the public. After losing the majority in ’06, congressional Republicans are poised to lose a lot more seats in ’08.

Not because folks are inspired by congressional Democrats. Not at all. No, the problem is the negatives associated with Republicans, who have discredited themselves.

In Mississippi, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee spent $1.8 million on ads blasting the Republican candidate for raising taxes.

To win elections you have to connect with voters. Pledge to do what voters want.

I remember back in 1994, when Republicans took the Congress. They had a Contract with America. They had ideas, actual plans. What were they? Hmmm . . . Balanced Budget Amendment . . . Term limits . . . Spending restraint . . . political reforms.

Hey! Should we remind the Republicans about this?

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

Bad and Worse

The best argument for voting for the Democrats is they aren’t the Republicans. On the other hand, the best argument for voting Republican is they’re not the Democrats. With choices like these, no wonder we’re fed up with both parties.

One of few things Congress did to change the corrupt culture of Washington was term-limit committee chairmen. It was the most significant reform of the Republican Congress because it would have ended the near dictatorial rule of a small number of career politicians.

With term limits on chairmen, power was to be more equalized and opportunities for corruption reduced. Good thing, right? So guess what? Speaker Denny Hastert and the Republican leadership are weakening the six-year term limits on committee chairmen. The GOP leadership’s new interpretation allows a chairman to step down from chairing one committee and immediately begin chairing another committee. Still too much power in too few hands.

Now flip to the Democrats. They boast they’ll kill committee chair term limits altogether if they win back the House this year. Maybe their election slogan should be “The People Be Damned.” Too often our election choices come down to the lesser of two evils.

Well, the lesser of two evils is still evil. Is there anything behind door number 3, for goodness sake? Well, forget about parties. Look for principles. If you want a real choice, look for the candidate who takes the term limits pledge the guy who refuses to be a career politician for either party.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.