RUSH: It
appears to me, ladies and gentlemen, that waaaaay too many Republicans in
the House are preparing for 40 more years in the minority. "At a recent
meeting of the House Republican leadership, members of the new minority
party looked around and realized they were entering unfamiliar territory:
Only one of them -- Rep. John A. Boehner of Ohio -- had ever served as a
member of the minority party on Capitol Hill. 'We're all still finding our
way,' said Rep. Kay Granger of Texas, the Republican Conference vice
chairman. The power shift has created its own internal struggle among
Republicans. The younger pit bulls want to go after the Democrats quickly
and without remorse. Some of the older Republican stalwarts prefer sitting
back and allowing new Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her party members to have
their moment in the sun and govern accordingly. 'It's in flux right now as
to kind of what direction we take and how we operate now that we're in the
minority,' said Rep. Patrick T. McHenry of North Carolina.
"'There is a group of us who think we have to throw
down the gauntlet and be on the offensive from the very beginning in
battles from Day One,' he said. 'That's the only way we are going to get
back in the majority. Then there are others who say we need to let them
have their time.' Several Republicans confirmed privately that more than
two-thirds of House Republicans are favoring a slow approach, while a
minority of members think the attacks on Democrats should come
rapid-fire." So it appears that the ghost of Bob Michel, Republican minority leader in the House for
a lot of years and the last year of the 40-year Democrat rule in the House
prior to 1994's elections. It seems like the ghost of Bob Michel has taken
over here with two-thirds of the Republicans wanting to sit back and say,
"Well, you know, they won."
By the way, in this story -- it's a Washington Times story -- there's no indication here
that the two-thirds of the Republicans want to sit back and do nothing,
hoping the Democrats will implode. It's more that the Republicans are
saying: "Hey, they won! Let 'em do what they want to do. They won; we
lost," and so forth, with no intention of fighting them or calling them
out, trying to stop them or opposing them or what you have. So it's going
to be interesting to see who wins this little turf battle here inside the
Republican Party. But it appears that it's only a minority that care to do
anything about the Democrat majority. Frankly, this is why I say it sounds
like they're preparing for 40 more years in the minority, and I also have
to say it doesn't surprise me.
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