You look at the economic condition of the country, and recognize that Obama insists on clinging to policies that have only made it worse and will only make it worse still, and you wonder: How can the GOP be constantly losing political battles to a guy like this?
Then you see this, and it all becomes clear:
So here's your messaging imperative: It's the Obama sequester. Got that? It's horrible, horrible! And it's all Obama's creation. So blame Obama. Got that? Ladies and gentlemen, the people who took control of the House of Representatives, and thus the power of the purse, more than two years ago. Not doing a damn thing to stop out-of-control spending, but giving you mediocre videos.
In case you're not seeing the problem with this, two points:
1. The sequester cuts spending by $85 billion. Yes, it does so indiscriminately and across-the-board, and no, that is not the best way to do it. But it is still $85 billion less we will add to the national debt, and since when does the Republican Party think that is such a horrible thing? Yes, Obama decided the details of the sequester, but the spending cuts are a GOP demand as part of the debt ceiling showdown of 2011. Getting the automatic spending cuts in the deal, even if you don't like the exact details, represented a Republican victory. Did they not know at the time that Obama and the media would scream bloody murder when the time for the cuts was at hand? They certainly should have. So why buy in now to the premise that a tiny spending cut is Armageddon? Whose home field are you playing on when you do that? And if Nancy Pelosi is delusional to say we don't have a spending problem (and yes she is), then why are the Republicans agreeing with the conventional Washington wisdom that the sequester cuts are the worst thing on Earth? That makes no sense. Maybe they're delusional too.
2. Do the Republicans not understand by now that the Washington blame game is one they can never win? It is always two-on-one - the Democrats and the media vs. the GOP - and no matter what the facts are, they will always be spun to blame the GOP for anything. Producing this video merely represents a strategic decision on the GOP's part to try anyway, however futile the effort may be - to land a blow in a fight they are guaranteed to lose. The only strategy that can work here politically (not to mention benefit the nation), is to make clear that the Republicans have no problem with the sequester whatsoever. They can signal their willingness to give Obama flexibility in how the cuts are executed, which exposes his own disingenuousness (since in truth he doesn't want to cut a penny of real spending, ever), but signing off on the nation that the sequester is awful and indulging the blame game is guaranteed defeat.
Oh, and the video isn't even that clever. They'd be better off just saving themselves a lot of time, marching into the White House and handing over their manhood to Obama on the spot. The result would be exactly the same.
This is how the Republican Party manages to constantly come out on the short end in political battles with a terrible president.
