Ryan Streeter
This is the big question. Scott Rasmussen had a very important WSJ column yesterday in which he showed from the numbers that today's historic election is an anti-Democrat phenomenon, rather than a pro-GOP tidal wave. Americans are in a cut-spending mood in a seismic way, and the Democrats represent the polar opposite...so Americans are against them.
Republicans need a post-today plan - probably more quickly than they'll be able to organize. As David Brooks remarks today, expectations among GOP establishment are measured about what they can do. But this is different than a plan for the future.
GOP leaders are right to start speaking very clearly about what the limitations will be on their abilities to channel popular sentiment into real legislative success. But they can't stop there. They need to continue to address where that sentiment points.
They may not be able to repeal Obamacare in the next 2 years, but they need to start talking now about what repeal looks like, what the alternative would be, and how they plan to get us there in 2012. Ditto for tax reform. Ditto for deficit reduction. Ditto for a growth agenda. Ditto for infrastructure investment.
If they can succeed on that front, the American people will likely forgive them their inability to reform Washington immediately. If they can't, 2012 may look for them what 2010 looked like for the Democrats.
Check back for ongoing coverage of the mid-terms and what they mean...
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