If Republicans Win in November, It Will Be in Spite of Themselves

[Eupher]

Mr. Hunter sounds a bit like Debbie Downer, but he's spot on. Clowns like Kevin McCarthy (R-Hairstyle, kinda like his buddy Gavin) don't send a forceful message. They wallow in it, like rose petals.

Kevin likes the good life. And he's used to it. But he can't see the forest for the trees. That's not the mark of a good leader, and he's grooming himself to be the next Speaker.

I have zero faith in the Republican party, except for its ability to fail. Hiring Kevin McCarthy is a great example of how to fail.

Republican Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy may well be the nicest man on the face of the Earth, but he's a horrible political leader. What's sad is he's the best the Republicans in the House of Representatives could come up with for a leader. It's not that there aren't people who'd be better (I can think of an easy half dozen); it's that no one else could get the votes. With that in mind, he's the guy leading Republicans into the midterm elections. God help us.

History is on the side of Republicans. If they did nothing, they should sweep back into power just based on what happens to the party of the presidency in its first midterm. Add to that the fact that Joe Biden is wildly unpopular outside of newsrooms and faculty lounges, and you have the makings of a "Republican wave election." All Republicans have to do is not blow it.

The problem is this: Republicans excel at snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.

The average Republican voter on the street is better at articulating what the party stands for than its leader is. Throw in idiots like Senator Lindsey Graham inserting themselves into every election across the country for reasons he can't convincingly articulate, and you've got the makings of a historic failure.

Don't get me wrong, I still think Republicans will at least take the House. My concern is they'll take it by fewer votes than they otherwise would and possibly not get the Senate, thanks to the clowns running the show.

A big part of the Republican problem is 1994. Not the results (those were great), but the memory of it. Everyone old enough remembers the Contract with America, but Kevin McCarthy seems to have forgotten everything but the name.

Republicans have tried to emulate the Contract every time they've been in the minority. Those efforts either fall apart or amount to something so unimportant they're quickly forgotten. Never once have they actually applied the real lesson from the Contract.

The Contract was a promise that, should Republicans take the House, they would hold a vote on 10 specific pieces of legislation that had already been introduced. They were real bills people could read and were on issues people cared about – balanced budgets, term limits, taxes, etc. There was no promise to implement them, to make them law – they couldn't make that promise because Bill Clinton was still president – but they promised a vote. They delivered on their promise. They held those votes. They were dead in the Senate, but the House did what it said it would do.

In the latest attempt to recreate the Contract, McCarthy and what appears to be a huge group of politicians and consultants cobbled together a vague "Commitment to America." What's in it? What will they do if they take the House back? Stuff and other things.

Instead of a one-page document with an easy-to-understand message and bullet points like the Contract, the Commitment is a series of bumper stickers and meaningless platitudes about concepts. They're all well and good, insofar as they are concepts helpful to mention in campaign speeches, but they're nothing to rally around.

McCarthy has a website featuring the Commitment that would take hours to read. Links everywhere, meaningless click holes to dive down. And his face all over it. If someone asked you to explain it, you probably couldn't do it within 15 minutes, at the least.

Even the "preamble" to the concept is a page-long word salad with meaningless platitudes all over it. They support good stuff and oppose bad stuff, or something similar.

"Because Americans are workers and builders, we commit to remove government-imposed obstacles to their success. Hardworking taxpayers should be valued, not punished," it reads, in part. "Because no American should live in fear, we commit to reverse soft-on-crime policies that have caused violence in our communities." They don't say how they'll get liberal prosecutors to enforce state laws the federal government has no say over. "Public safety is a necessity, not a privilege."

"Because Americans are learners and dreamers, we commit to advance excellence in education and respect for dedicated parents and teachers," it continues. I guess the dream of getting the feds out of education, something that has been a complete disaster since Jimmy Carter created the Department of Education, is over now. "Our future depends on it."

"And because Americans deserve fairness and real accountability, we commit to make Washington finally serve the needs of the people. We can no longer afford business as usual. We will work with anyone who shares these goals—as long as they put people before politics," it concludes. What the hell does that even mean? I think I read that last part on the bumper of a Prius I passed the other day.

Is this the best Republicans have to offer? A convoluted website about glorifying a guy who views the Speakership as his, should he not blow it?

How hard is it to message against these destructive Democrats? How can these people, these "leaders," have such difficulty articulating a message of individual liberty coupled with a state's ability to do almost anything it wants, provided it doesn't violate things expressly forbidden by the Constitution? You don't need a website with dozens of links to dozens of pages and videos attempting to explain yourself.

Kevin McCarthy, you're fine in the unchallenging media appearances you do where you aren't really challenged. But if you can only preach to the choir, you shouldn't have your job. You have the choir. Your job is to expand it and win more seats than anyone thought possible. A convoluted messaging website isn't how you do that.

If the message can't fit on one page, leadership needs to scrap it and start over. If they can't, the House GOP needs to do that with their leadership.

https://townhall.com/columnists/derekhunter/2022/09/27/if-republicans-win-in-november-it-will-be-in-spite-of-themselves-n2613609?bcid=d519b945f8a32ba161895b1c7231c16c5fa3cd48222b27fc1e013476354174f9&recip=29140120

[Drafe Hoblin]

That's an excellent anti-McCarthy assessment.  My first thought when I heard the CTA-speech was Vengie's List... a high-school Conservative's version of a political Angie's List... with McCarthy imitating Pelosi's Avenging Angel persona.

Ridiculous.  And unnecessary.

Feudal Japan would handle the situation by elevating McCarthy to powerless figurehead-status while somebody like Jim Jordan becomes the new Speaker.  Keep Kevin talking on the telephone and out of the decision-making process.

[enslaved1]

Reasons why as long as I'm in an open primary state, I'm not registered as a republican.  Too many of them are just as dirty and selfish as the dems, more interested in keeping their seats than making the country better.  "Vote for me cause I'm not a Democrat" is their motto, and reach across the aisle when we have majorities to actually accomplish something is their platform.

[Eupher]

Tucker weighs in on the same thing that Derek Hunter did in the OP. The term "platitude" is used in this assessment.

I remember Gingrich's "Contract With America." And I remember its impact. The only impact Kevin McCarthy is making is how cool his hair looks. 

'Nothing Real in It:' Tucker Pours Cold Water on McCarthy's 'Commitment to America'

Last week, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) rolled out a new plan for the midterms called the “Commitment To America.” The plan is being used to coalesce the Republican Party and its voters, aiming to right the wrongs of the past several years of Democrat leadership and get America back on track.

On paper, the plan sounds fantastic. It contains crucial goals, such as strengthening the U.S. economy, holding the U.S. government accountable when things go wrong as they’ve done so many times under President Joe Biden and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), and vowing to make America safe again.

Rick Moran wrote about it earlier this month:

It’s loosely based on the “Contract with America” concept created for the 1994 midterm election that was credited with helping the GOP take over both the House and Senate.

This document is far less ambitious but has the benefit of every Republican in the House signing on to it.

If you ask Fox News host Tucker Carlson, well, he’s not so hot on the idea. Obviously, Carlson doesn’t hate the substance of the McCarthy-led plan. However, he pointed out during his Monday night show that he feels like it’s still not tackling the “real” issues facing Americans right now — the issues that will undoubtedly sway voters one way or another when they head to the voting booth on Nov. 8.

His less-than-flattering assessment of the GOP plan came as he spoke about Giorgia Meloni, the conservative politician who’s likely to become Italy’s first female prime minister. Carlson praised her approach to winning over the hearts and minds of the Italian electorate, noting that she did what American Republicans still do not seem willing to do.

Tucker Carlson Rightfully Calling Out The GOP's Bland "Commitment To America"

"Nobody really cares. Why? Because there's nothing real in it. There's not a single word in that document about the attacks on the American Family that you see everyday." pic.twitter.com/4h61HkHdBk

— The Columbia Bugle 🇺🇸 (@ColumbiaBugle) September 27, 2022

“House Republicans just spelled out what they’re running on; it’s a document called the ‘Commitment To America.’ It’s fine. Probably not much in it you disagree with. Have you heard of it? No, you probably haven’t. You probably haven’t read it. Nobody really cares. Why? Because there is nothing real in it,” Carlson said Monday night.

The primetime Fox News host explained why he’s not heaping praise on McCarthy and those who helped write the Commitment To America plan, essentially writing it off as a document full of political platitudes.

Carlson noted: “There’s not a single word in that document about the attacks on the American family that you see every day. That’s at the center of most people’s concerns. How are my kids? Will they have a life that resembles mine? That was called the American Dream. Does it still exist?”

He added that he believes it’s “odd” that most Republican politicians still don’t seem to have the courage to take a stand on some of the issues he was referencing, such as the sexualization of children and the LGBTQ gender brainwashing happening to young schoolchildren on a daily basis. He also noted that when Republicans speak out and run on these issues, they often emerge victorious, as Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R-Va.) did last year.

“People are upset about that. Why wouldn’t they be? But nobody says it. And that’s odd because we know — and now it’s been proven — that when politicians are brave enough to tell the truth about what is actually happening, they tend to be rewarded for it.” Carlson concluded.

Only time will tell if the Republican Commitment To America will serve its intended purpose. Still, there should be zero doubt whatsoever that the Republican candidates who are willing to take a direct stand against the progressive left’s continued attack on the American family and traditional values will likely be the ones who reap the most significant rewards in November and beyond.

https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/ryanledendecker/2022/09/27/nothing-real-in-it-tucker-pours-cold-water-on-mccarthys-commitment-to-america-n1632569

[Old n Grumpy]

Last Saturday I was talking to some of the local politicians running for city and county seats.. I asked this one woman if she was liberal or conservative and her answer was” what would you like me to be .”

[Eupher]

Last Saturday I was talking to some of the local politicians running for city and county seats.. I asked this one woman if she was liberal or conservative and her answer was” what would you like me to be .”

Sounds like she was reading right out of the Kevin McCarthy playbook.