HERRING – A road map for America’s future
In recent weeks, Democrats in Congress have increasingly referred to Republicans as “The Party of No”. By this they mean to say that Congressional Republicans have run out of ideas on how to solve our country’s domestic ills. All they know how to do is say “no” and have no clue on “how to get America moving again.”
Historically, it has been normal for a sitting President to set a domestic agenda and for the opposition party to respond to that agenda. Sometimes, however, the opposition party in Congress sets an agenda of its own, as the Republicans led by Newt Gingrich did in the 1990s, when they adopted their “contract for America” and pledged their allegiance to the principles of the contract if elected during the midterm elections of the first Clinton Administration. Fresh from a victory over Hillary Clinton’s national health care plan, the Republicans clearly defined what they believed in and distinguished their vision for America’s future from the vision of the Democrats. In the process, the Republicans “nationalized” the election and took control of both houses of congress for the first time in many years, because the voters tended to elect their congressmen based on national issues rather than personalities or who could best “bring home the bacon.”
Herring Blog
2/16/10
Magnolia Tribune
