You’ve got to give the Republicans credit, said former President Bill Clinton, making the talk show circuit on Sunday.
The GOP is waging a decent battle with the Democrats on Obamacare and the budget.
“We’ve got a lot of good people in the party,” he said, on CNN’s Fareed Zakaria GPS, as The Hill reported. “We’ve got a lot of good ideas. But I think you’ve got to give it to the Republicans. They have a much more reliable media base, and they just say ’ no.’ They know what they want. They want power to cut taxes, eliminate regulation, take government down except for what they like, and they can fill the atmosphere with a lot of static.”
Mr. Clinton offered the analysis at a time when Republicans are splintering over Sen. Ted Cruz’s push to defund Obamacare and as President Obama is mounting a concerted attack to counter such action. The House passed a bill to keep the government operation until mid-December — but attached a measure to defund Mr. Obama’s signature health care reform.
The federal government is set to shut down on Oct. 1, if no action is taken.
Mr. Clinton also spoke fondly of tea party values and said Democrats have it pretty tough.
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“It’s a little tougher for us, but I feel pretty good about where [the Democratic Party is] and where we’re going. Demographically, the country is moving toward not liberal but communitarian solutions,” he said, The Hill reported. “I think that has to be the founding value of the country: To preserve individual liberty — and even allow the most libertarian influences of the tea party — we still have to recognize that we have some things in common.”
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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