Republicans: Don't Fall Into This Trap
Republicans lose elections when they act counter to what people expect of them. When President Clinton was undergoing impeachment, too many Republicans focused on what happened in the Oval office, leading Democrats to tut tut, “Republicans are just a bunch of prudes.” In France, where taking a mistress and siring a brood is a way of life, were baffled at the commotion over here. The argument should have focused on women’s rights and how Clinton, by his lying, was denying Paula Jones her day in court on a legitimate claim of sexual harassment. If that was the gravamen of the discussion, the Republicans would have one on either the impeachment claim or by discrediting the left wing of the women’s movement by starkly painting them as choosing abortion as the sine qua non of their existence, rather than supporting the rights of a solitary woman against a powerful man. Alas, the Democrats successfully dragged the fight into the mud, smearing everyone in the process. When it was all done, you couldn’t tell a muddy Clinton, from a spattered Ken Starr, from a slime covered Republican Congressman.
Take the High Road
Today there was a news release from the Republican National Committee trying to make hay out of President Obama taking his wife to a Broadway play on the eve of GM filing bankruptcy, the state of the economy, etc., etc. PLEASE! Let the man take his wife to a play. Barack Obama will have the Secret Service following him for the rest of his life. It costs money to protect him. What do we expect our President to do, stay home and bowl for the rest of his term? The man still has very high approval ratings. Trying to make these kinds of points is counterproductive and will probably raise his numbers and the Republicans negative numbers at the same time. Instead of asking why he was doing that, ask him how he liked the play.
With the confirmation hearings approaching for Judge Sonia Sotomayor, the Republicans have to be on guard for the same things. Get off the “she’s a racist” bandwagon. You’re playing right into the Democrats hands. They are the party of class warfare and nothing would please them more than ad hominem attacks on a Puerto Rican woman.
Treat it just like any job interview. Is she qualified to do the job? Don’t bring up any questions about race, sex, age, disabilities, or anything else you couldn’t ask on a job interview. Instead of saying she is a racist for saying a Latina woman would arrive at better decisions than a white man, ask her to explain her thinking behind the statement and then follow it up with a line of questions about judicial activism. On the Ricci case, ask her what would be the remedy that would pass muster in her court. How many blacks would have to pass the test to allow the promotions to go through? How many Hispanics? How many Asians? Ask her if a white male wanted to sue the National Basketball Association because whites are disproportionally represented in the NBA, what would she rule?
Set the Table
Judge Sotomayor probably has the votes to make it to the Supreme Court. At the same time most Americans are opposed to judicial activism. If the Republicans stay on message and take this as an opportunity to point to another instance of this Administration taking away more and more of our liberties, they can head to the production studios and start making the commercials for 2010. If they accept the left’s invitation to step into the mud pit, then when it is all over all anyone will see is the mud dripping from every participant. Just say no. No ad hominem attacks. No inflated claims on small points. Just a steady, consistent focus on whether on not Judge Sotomayor is an activist judge. Here is the speech that we should hear from any Republican senator when the nomination comes up for a vote:
“Judge Sotomayor has a great American story. It is a story that all Americans should admire. She seems like a truly warm and caring individual, which are qualities than anyone should embrace. However, in her judicial philosophy she doesn’t seem to be able to separate her personal feelings from the law. Her passion would make her a wonderful legislator, but a judge does not make the rules. Like an umpire in a baseball game, the judge calls balls and strikes, safe and out. The umpire doesn’t directly influence the outcome for one team or the other, neither the underdog nor the favorite. Justice should be blind. Judge Sotomayor doesn’t believe that. Therefore, regretfully, I will be voting against her.”
