Mike Pence, seeking the GOP leadership of the U.S. House, has annoyed the Indiana Democratic Party by urging fellow House Republicans to use their “talents and expertise to dismantle Democratic arguments and expose their liberal, big government agenda at every turn.”
On Saturday, a spokeswoman for the Indiana Democratic Party called the Indiana congressman's statement pessimistic and antagonistic.
“I think if we learned one thing from (the election) Tuesday it's that people in this country want Republicans and Democrats to work together in Congress,” Jennifer Wagner said.
“The tone of his statement is such that it's just a little surprising that he wouldn't want to work with Democrats, as opposed to starting out the gates with such pessimism and antagonism.”
I guess Democrats don't have a grasp of what "loyal opposition" means. That's understandable since they, of course, never used their talents and expertise to thwart the mean-spirited Republican agenda. Mike Pence understands something the Democrats ignore at their peril (Republicans, too, not to put too fine a point on it): This election was not a repudiation of conservative values.
Comments
I agree that this election was not a repudiation of conservative values.
However, Mr. Pence would be well served to also point out that it was HIS Republican Party that grew government at a rate that far exceeds anything the Democrats have ever done.
And keep in mind, Pence needs to get some headlines- he is running for minority leader and is considered a long shot by many.
Pence couldn't even thwart non-conservative actions in his own party. Why would he have more success against someone else's party?
Kevin: Pence wasn't shy about calling fellow Republicans on spending before the election; I doubt that he will be after the election.
Doug: I don't know; we can only hope. Charl Krauthammer says that, with the election of many moderate Democrats and the jettisoning of some of the old Rockefeller Republicans, one result of the elections is that BOTH parties are now more consertvative. We'll see.
It's especially worth remembering right now that after the 2004 election, Democrats heard Bush talk about post-election unification and spun it to assert that THEY were supposed to stand still and let the Republicans move toward the losers.
Since that's how they've define it these last 2 years, okay -- then it's now time for them to take the high road and move toward George W. and the Republicans, in order to answer the clear mandate to unify in the moderate center...
Don't hold your breath.