Legal Commentary

Fighting For Something Is Better Politics Than Caving On Everything

By Big Tent Democrat

This post by Matt Yglesias is really funny to me:

Looks like Republicans aren’t going to back down on their threat to filibuster a defense appropriations bill unless it’s stripped of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell repeal legislation, and it looks like Democrats are going to cave. [. . .] Filibustering defense appropriations bills is politically risky. And to do it in order to support a hugely unpopular position on a related issue is a giant risk. [. . .] But not only are [the GOP] getting away with the filibuster, they’re turning their obstruction into a political winner by forcing the progressive community into circular firing squad mode.

(Emphasis supplied.) This is amazing. It is a political winner, AS IT ALWAYS IS, because it fires up the GOP base AND let's the populace know that the GOP actually stands for something and will fight for what it believes.

This reminds me of the silly theories forwarded by Beltway Bloggers that George Bush was unpopular because he would not compromise. That is just plain stupid. George Bush was unpopular because his policies sucked. Not because he rammed them through. The stupidity in the Democratic Beltway is a constant. The embrace of the Post Partisan Unity Schtick by the Beltway Dems is why progressivism in the Democratic Party cannot triumph. We need new blood in the Beltway Dem Party.

Speaking for me only

Full post as published by TalkLeft on November 09, 2010 (boomark / email).