Conservative columnist Jeffrey Kuhner claims that polling showing the GOP’s popularity dropping to record lows is proof that Republicans are winning the government shutdown fight. Writing for the Washington Times today, Kuhner said that the disastrous polling numbers are all part of a big plan to “win the Obamacare war.”
How?
The Tea Party, of course!
He claims that even though most Americans oppose of the GOP’s attempt to link Obamacare funding to the shutdown, Kuhner says that most Americas actually love Republican anti-Obamacare zeal and the Tea Party.
However, the Tea Party has just a 21 percent approval rating, a poorer showing than even the GOP’s historically low 24 percent.
“The Tea Party represents the rebirth of Reagan conservatism, and the last time the GOP embraced Reaganism, they won consecutive landslide elections,” Kuhner writes. “The Republican moment is approaching.”
Republicans are on the verge of again becoming the majority party. The conventional wisdom is that the GOP is taking the brunt of the public blame for the partial government shutdown. In the short term, that is true. In the long term, however, the Republicans are on the verge of a major triumph. They will lose the shutdown battle, but win the Obamacare war.
By confronting President Obama on defunding or delaying his signature health care law, the GOP-controlled House of Representatives finally made a stand. Mr. Obama and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid are in no rush to end the government shutdown. The reason is obvious: They want to prolong the pain, thereby hoping to direct public anger against the House Republicans. The liberal elite media have peddled the narrative that the Tea Party is responsible for the shutdown. Democrats have resorted to calling Republicans every name in the book — terrorists, anarchists, suicide-bombers and right-wing extremists. The only thing they haven’t called Tea Party conservatives — yet — are Satanists.
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For Democrats, Obamacare is the blunder of a generation. It is their law; they own it — lock, stock and barrel. There is a fierce battle against it because of deep popular opposition. Mr. Obama is paying the price for ramming the law down the throats of Congress and the American people. Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid — every prior major modern entitlement program has had substantial bipartisan support. This was done to ensure a level of political consensus and social stability when implementing sweeping change.
Obamacare, however, was different. It was passed without a single GOP vote. Every Republican idea — purchasing insurance across state lines, the need for tort reform, stripping out the death panels, abolishing taxpayer funding of abortions and contraception, and eliminating the punishing tax on medical devices — was rejected. It was Obamacare that spawned the birth of the Tea Party.
Mr. Obama’s health care overhaul represents liberalism’s fatal overreach. Most Americans despise it, and the more they find out about Obamacare, the more they hate it. It is a significant reason why the president’s job approval has sunk to 37 percent — and will continue to plummet. The most enduring memory the electorate will have is of Republicans shutting down the government in order to thwart the oncoming disaster. The GOP is being rebranded right in front of our eyes. They are standing as the defenders of small government, fiscal sanity and individual freedom. The Tea Party represents the rebirth of Reagan conservatism, and the last time the GOP embraced Reaganism, they won consecutive landslide elections.
The Republican moment is approaching.
