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Townhall...
5 Reasons
Defunding Obamacare Is Smart Politics
John Hawkins
Sep 23, 2013
Defunding Obamacare is a great idea and I'm not just saying that
because I was the first one to promote the concept in March of 2010.
Back then, the GOP Leadership agreed with me with no arm twisting
required. John Boehner, Eric Cantor and Cathy McMorris Rodgers all
vowed to defund Obamacare if the GOP took back the House. Today, it's
finally going to happen, but only because Ted Cruz and Mike Lee have
forced the GOP to stand up and fight.
That being said, it is admittedly unlikely that Barack Obama will agree
to defund Obamacare. To make that happen, we'd need a unified GOP
caucus and leaders with skill at messaging who could keep the public on
our side for months after Obama shuts down the government. We don't
have that, which means we probably can't achieve our ultimate goal.
However, that doesn't mean that there is nothing to be gained or that
the GOP is doomed to take a beating on the issue.
1) We're nearly on even ground with Obama at the moment: According to
the latest Gallup poll, if there was a government shutdown, 39% of the
public would blame the GOP, 36% would blame Obama and 17% would blame
both sides. Those are not bad numbers and when Obama is shouting from
the rooftops that he won't compromise under any circumstances, there's
no reason the polls have to dramatically tilt against the Republican
Party if Democrats insist on shutting the government down. If people
assume your side is holding up a deal when the other side is telling
everyone that it won't compromise, then maybe it's time to start
questioning whether your leaders are effective enough at messaging to
continue to lead.
2) The GOP has to prove it's willing to stand up and fight: Jonah
Goldberg once said, “(J)ust to clarify: If you go into every situation
saying there’s absolutely nothing worth fighting over, you will
inevitably end up on a cot sleeping next to a guy named Tiny, bringing
him breakfast in his cell every morning, and spending your afternoons
ironing his boxers. Or, in the case of the French, you might spend your
afternoon rounding up Jews to send to Germany, but you get the point...
Read the rest of the article at Townhall
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