Republicans Rowing Backward

The tone in Washington is getting sharper and the bunker mentality is making a comeback. In opposing his economic assistance package, the Republican opposition rejected Obama’s embrace. Only three of the 41 Republican Senators voted in favor of the bill and Republican opposition to it in the House was unanimous. Instead of the bipartisan cooperation Obama had hoped for, sides were drawn in Washington, with Republicans against the president and Democrats rapidly losing their inclination for compromise.

In his own party, the calls for Obama to press ahead with his agenda instead of hoping for Republican support have become more strident. Republicans, after their election defeats in November, apparently wish to play a strong opposing role. Many of them admit publicly they would like to see Obama shipwrecked by his economic agenda. Rep. Pete Sessions says Republicans have to become an “insurgency” against Obama, with the “Taliban” serving a their role model, even if it means the country will sink deeper into recession.

Other Republicans point to the fact that they find little middle ground on which they can agree with the Democratic president. The moderate Republican Richard Lugar told Obama he was basically prepared for bipartisan cooperation, but couldn’t support his economic assistance package. Republican strategist Ed Rollins says in rejecting new deficits, Republicans again have a message that unifies their party.

On Capitol Hill, the Republican opposition is itself split into two factions since their election losses. The traditionalists in Washington are calling for a “return to their conservative roots,” while others believe the party needs new directions. Sen. Susan Collins, who voted for Obama’s economic stimulus package despite severe criticism from her own fellow Republicans, warns that the Republican Party is in danger of becoming a regional party made up of arch-conservatives in the South and the West. In any case, in liberal New England Collins in the only Republican Senator re-elected in last November’s election. The choice of Michael Steele as Republican National Committee Chairman also shows that many feel the party has to reach out to new voters in order to become a majority party once more.

Perhaps the most important division comes between those Republicans in Washington who have no direct political responsibility, and the Governors and Mayors who now face budget shortfalls and depend on the Obama administration for help. When Obama campaigned in Florida during the real estate collapse, the state’s Republican governor, Charlie Crist, pointedly stood next to him. Party Chief Jim Greer complained–“You tell us to just say no, but you don’t tell us how to solve the problems,” he said of Republicans in Congress.