‘THIS IS NOT A TIME FOR COMPROMISE’…. There seems to be a pattern here.
Republicans aren’t in the mood for compromise, especially on repealing healthcare reform, House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) said Wednesday. […]
“This is not a time for compromise, and I can tell you that we will not compromise on our principles,” Boehner said during an appearance on conservative Sean Hannity’s radio show.
Republicans aren’t exactly being subtle here. Last week, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s (R-Ky.) said, “The single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president…. Our single biggest political goal is to give [the Republican] nominee for president the maximum opportunity to be successful.”
A few days earlier, Ken Buck (R), the extremist Senate candidate in Colorado, insisted, “I’m not compromising.” House Republican Conference Chairman Mike Pence (R-Ind.) insisted the last Republican majority that worked with a Democratic White House — you know, the one that shut down the government (twice) and impeached the president — compromised “too much,” and the GOP shouldn’t repeat that mistake next year.
I know I keep harping on this, but I think it matters. One of the angles I emphasized yesterday related to the perception that the American mainstream has a visceral dislike for this kind GOP rhetoric. Today, there’s evidence to back that up.
A newly-released New York Times/CBS News poll, for example, found that 75% of likely voters want Republicans, if they regain a majority, to compromise in order to get things done. (Keep in mind, 75% of Americans don’t agree on much, but they agree on this.) Perhaps more important, 66% of self-identified likely Republican voters also want to see their party compromise with Democrats in the next Congress.
It’s not like Boehner can say, “Well, I’d love to compromise, but my party won’t let me.” Two-thirds of GOP voters are already urging him to negotiate and be willing to make concessions.
In a new Bloomberg News poll, the results were even more one-sided. Respondents were asked, “If Republicans win control of Congress, what do you want to happen — do you want the parties to stick to their principles even if means gridlock and nothing gets done, or do you want parties to work together even if it means compromising some principles?” A whopping 80% chose the latter.
Boehner, McConnell, and their cohorts seem to think they’ll be better off ignoring this vast American mainstream. “This,” Boehner insists, “is not a time for compromise.”
We’ll see how that turns out for them.
