Some readers, Andrew, Reihan and a couple of other bloggers all argue, to one degree or another, that this post is depressingly cynical* [typo fixed]. It wasn’t meant to be! I wasn’t meaning to endorse Republican obstructionism, rather I was trying to point out that, viewed from a GOP perspective, a policy of knee-jerk opposition to anything and eveything proposed by the Obama administration and the Democratic Congress made or makes a certain amount of sense. That’s all! I don’t pretend that this is necessarily good for the country.
But in a two party system which also massively favours incumbents at elections time and in which a 53-47% victory is considered a mini-landslide, there’s little incentive to try and improve bills proposed by the majority. If passing HCR improves the Democratic position – as some evidence suggests it might – then a guerilla campaign to derail that particular train makes sense.
Britain’s best politics newsletters
You get two free articles each week when you sign up to The Spectator’s emails.
Already a subscriber? Log in
Comments
Join the debate, free for a month
Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first month free.
UNLOCK ACCESS Try a month freeAlready a subscriber? Log in