Newt To RNC: Give The Blago-Obama Thing A Rest

McCain I expect this stuff from, but Newt? I seem to remember a young(er) Newt throwing rhetorical bombs on the floor of the House at some point and even having some success with that strategy but not now.

I was saddened to learn that at a time of national trial, when a president-elect is preparing to take office in the midst of the worst financial crisis in over seventy years, that the Republican National Committee is engaged in the sort of negative, attack politics that the voters rejected in the 2006 and 2008 election cycles.

The recent web advertisement, “Questions Remain,” is a destructive distraction. Clearly, we should insist that all taped communications regarding the Senate seat should be made public. However, that should be a matter of public policy, not an excuse for political attack.

In a time when America is facing real challenges, Republicans should be working to help the incoming President succeed in meeting them, regardless of his Party.

From now until the inaugural, Republicans should be offering to help the President-elect prepare to take office.

Furthermore, once President Obama takes office, Republicans should be eager to work with him when he is right, and, when he is wrong, offer a better solution, instead of just opposing him.

This is the only way the Republican Party will become known as the “better solutions” party, not just an opposition party. And this is the only way Republicans will ever regain the trust of the voters to return to the majority.

This ad is a terrible signal to be sending about both the goals of the Republican Party in the midst of the nation’s troubled economic times and about whether we have actually learned anything from the defeats of 2006 and 2008.

The RNC should pull the ad down immediately.

Well Newt, I'm not sure what 'better solution' the GOP can offer beyond, you know, if someone offers you a pay to play scheme for a Senate seat, call the cops.

Now, we don't know yet for sure that that happened. Though we did just spent the last 8 years hearing about the patriotic nature of dissent and the importance of asking questions. All of that was during a time of war, which surely is no less important than the economic challenges we face, and yet suddenly everyone has to play nice?

This doesn't strike me as some minor thing either. In these days of government 'investment' in private companies, isn't of some import to know whether or not the President-elect or much more likely someone on his staff was approached with a bribery scheme and may not have gotten around to reporting that to the authorities?

I'm on record a bunch around here about the need for Republicans and conservatives not to go all nutroots for the next 4 years but that doesn't mean hardball politics goes out the window. I am not a fan of unilateral disarmament.

And while I think being the party and movement of ideas is right and necessary, the Democrats have shown over the last few years have shown that playing politics can produce results ("culture of corruption" ring any bells?). There's nothing wrong with Republicans doing both.

Below is the RNC video that Newt and McCain find so unhelpful.

posted by DrewM. at 01:04 PM

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