The founder of RedState, CNN's Erick Erickson is pissed off and thinks it's time to ditch the Republican leadership over the passage of health care reform. Apparently John Boehner and Mitch McConnell are "accommodationists" who have been too willing to cooperate with Democrats. So Erickson is calling on right-wing activists to begin devoting their energy to electing Republicans who are more conservative, more obstructionist.
Erick Erickson tonight:
We need to be crystal clear on something — the Republican leadership remains accommodationist and fearful of being labeled the ‘party of no.’
Ladies and Gentlemen, I submit to you again that it is not enough to just throw out the Democrats in favor of Republicans. We must throw out the Democrats and replace them with the right kind of Republicans — conservatives who actually are conservative. And then we must insist that these newly elected Republicans not settle for the status quo in leadership. What is now need not be left in place.
Erick is a leading light of the conservative movement who was recently hired by as a pundit by CNN. Teabaggers listen to him. So what exactly does he think that congressional Republicans have done to accommodate the Democratic agenda? Get this:
Already we have a few Republicans positioning themselves in grand theatrics to call for full repeal of Obamacare. But these same Republicans in the past have talked about the good parts of the bill and how repeal should be measured. The only way to ensure today’s rhetoric turns into future consistent actions is to surround these Republicans with true conservative warriors.
Friends, if we are going to destroy the Democrats, we must first build up an army of real conservatives in Congress. Half measures, Democrat-lite, and men who compromise in favor of more government must be unacceptable.
Let me be blunt: any Republican who says we will repeal and replace will themselves be replaced. We want repeal period.
Yes, Erickson is upset because some Republicans have mentioned that they too want to end rescissions and stop denials due to pre-existing conditions. He sees that as a betrayal and an unacceptable endorsement of Democratic health care reform. And he wants to remove from office any Republican who promises to leave those provisions in place. All I can say is I fully endorse his plan. And so do many of the RedStaters.
Here are some responses to Erick's call to arms:
you are right
We need to tell our friends and our friends of friends to get involved in this fight (and a fight it truly is). We need to tell everyone we know to get on RedState so they can contribute to these senatorial campaigns so that we can swing the balance of the Senate not just to Republicans, but to Conservative Republicans who will stand on principle; not waffle and become big government, establishment politicians.
Tonight a battle was lost but this is a long war against those who would trample the Constitution and see this great country fall by the way of ancient Rome. This vote should galvanize us and our countrymen for this long fight. Thanks Erick for all that you do.
Republicans should have been repealing a long time ago, we just took a hundred steps to the left but we have taken a million steps over the years. Bipartisanship must end, no more candy coated poison bills, and Republicans must no longer compromise our Constitution. All Republicans must stand right of center to take us in that direction and I do not see how anyone can get all Republicans standing on that side of the fence. If anyone can see this please point it out.
This seems simple, united they must stand divided they fail therein all must be on one side of the fence or fail, and now the fence moved further to the right...
Repeal and Retribution.
Sounds great to me. Especially the retribution part.
They're really pissed at that the chief-accommodationist, John Boehner:
All Erik is suggesting is that, in between suntans, we hold Bonnie Jonnie Boehner’s feet to the fire when the Republicans regain power. It doesn’t have to be every Republican who gets the need to "repeal, not replace", but it darn sure has to be the leadership, and the best way to send that message is to make sure the wobblies tack right or face primary challenges.
- Boehner sponsored & voted for the No Child Left Behind Act, working with Sen. Teddy Kennedy of Massachusetts, to make sure it became law. Result: since bill signing, federal education spending has more than doubled.
- Boehner also voted for the Medicare prescription drug entitlement, This was the first new entitlement program since President Lyndon Johnson left office, a huge betrayal of conservative principles, and essentially paved the road for Nancy Pelosi to drive HCR through.
His rhetoric - lately - has been ok. His track record, bluntly, sucks. This time ’round, he needs to understand that the keys to the kingdom are going to come with strings attached, and in Jan 2010, he’d darn well better deliver.
Oh, and "Bonnie"? Not the girl’s name - the adjective, like the Scots use: "Physically attractive or appealing; pretty." A reference both to the superficial appeal of his rhetoric without strong backing actions, and his clear vanity (no one tans like that unless they like looking at themselves in the mirror or are currently on an MTV, Italian-slurring reality show).
Why did Paul Ryan support the Medicare prescription drug benefit? I have a difficult time understanding why a fiscal hawk like Ryan would support a massive entitlement expansion like that.
Uh, because he's a phony hypocrite.
Don't forget Michael Steele. He acts "entitled":
Now is the time to gracefully move Steele out of the leadership. He’s not up to this - he’s not a strategist, he’s not a warrior, and he seems to have a peculiarly entitled sense of self-interest guiding most of his public actions.
If it weren’t for the horrible optics, I’d suggest throwing whatever money it takes to bring Rove and Morris together under the RNC roof to steer this leaky boat.
Good plan! Rove can do the math.
To be fair, quite a few posters suggested to Erick that perhaps this might not be the best plan...which actually makes me wonder if we could be nearing peak wing-nut insanity. But probably not.
This call to punish Republicans who don't run on a platform of repealing even the most popular initiatives of Democratic health care reform (and replacing them with nothing) is a road to political oblivion for Republicans. And they'll probably take it.
This is exactly the same dynamic that began in the days after the 2008 election. Republican office holders feel like they have no choice but to appeal to a delusional base led by Limbaugh and Beck. In fact, we should probably thank extremists like Erick Erickson for helping Democrats pass health care reform. If the Teabaggers had allowed Republicans to actually say sensible things and sincerely negotiate, they certainly would have been able to weaken reform. Perhaps even destroy it.
So, go huge, Teabaggers! Keep demanding unpopular and downright crazy behavior from Republicans. Erick Erickson has thrown down the gauntlet -- Wolverines!