OPINION:
When it comes to the brass-knuckle business of politics, conservatives appear to bring knives to the proverbial gun fight.
These should be heady days for those on the right as their preferred party, the Republicans, has the White House and majority control of both houses of Congress. Most governorships and state legislatures are owned by Republicans. Even more important, the failure of leftist policies, particularly those enacted during the Obama administration, has become manifestly clear.
By the time the former president’s second term ended, American foreign policy was in tatters. The post-World War II paradigm that prevented another global conflict was in imminent danger of ending, as Russia and China both engaged in massive military buildups and aggressive actions beyond their borders. North Korea became a significant nuclear power, and Iran expanded its influence. This occurred even as the United States disinvested in its own armed forces and retreated from international leadership.
So much for giving peace a chance.
Domestically, America’s middle class suffered in dramatic fashion. Despite an opportunity for a strong recovery from the Great Recession, leftist policies of heavy regulation, massive increases in social spending (even while providing seniors with some of the smallest cost-of-living-adjustment increases in decades, and failing to address the Department of Veterans Affairs mess,) attacks on the energy sector, and establishing disincentives for full-time employment hobbled the national economy. While the former White House touted a low unemployment rate, the reality is that middle-income jobs were lost and replaced by minimum-wage and part-time positions. The Affordable Care Act resulted in vastly hiked premiums and a reduced quality of care.
Following the 2016 campaign victory, instead of a period of legislative accomplishment similar in quantity to President Obama’s first two years when the Democrats had near-complete control, the Republicans seem to concentrate on infighting. Two major accomplishments — tax reform and a modest increase in the defense budget — did come about, but much was left undone, especially health care reform.
Certainly, an unprecedented attack on the new administration by both the media and Democratic leaders, including a near rebellion by the entrenched bureaucracy, must be taken into account. And, of course, there is the Russian collusion scandal, despite its being based on what clearly appears to be the flimsiest of evidence, prosecuted by a partisan special counsel team.
But here is where the contrast between the left and the right comes clearly into focus. Democrats see politics as blood sport, with no holds barred. They attack relentlessly, whether their objections are justified or not. The Republicans appear to be playing by Marquis of Queensbury rules. There were significant opportunities, rising to the level of constitutional crises, during the Obama years, to concentrate on the misdeeds of an administration that laughably billed itself as “scandal free.” The wholesale misuse of federal departments, most notably the Internal Revenue Service, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Justice for partisan political goals was unprecedented in American history. Key international “agreements” were adopted, including the Paris Climate Accord and the Iran Nuclear Agreement, without the constitutionally mandated consent of the Senate.
Old-fashioned financial shenanigans were engaged in as well, but on a scale never before seen. The Obama stimulus program wasted more than $800 billion but provided little results other than enriching Obama-friendly organizations. Indeed, the doubling of the national debt produced nothing of note. The national infrastructure remained subpar, poverty was not reduced, the economy remained in low gear, and the military deteriorated.
Granted, a left-oriented media chose to ignore or at least downplay these offenses. But the Republican Party’s response, to essentially give up on executing substantive legal or public relations challenges, remains questionable. One factor that can be cited for the lack of success is the Republican failure to match Democratic influence in the entrenched bureaucracy, a crucial point in these affairs.
Republicans have done well at the ballot box, but they have done poorly in the other key aspects of political warfare. For far too long, they have been outperformed by their rivals in the essential fields of bureaucratic and academic staffing, as well as in the unfortunately influential realm of late-night comedians.
The politics of the 21st century require more than Election Day victories.
• Frank Vernuccio is editor-in-chief of the New York Analysis of Policy & Government.
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