PrintOctober 3, 2013
This shutdown feels like a baseball 'rain delay'
The shutdown is on and it feels a lot like a "rain delay":
First, the game stops and it will resume. It may last a long time but they will play again; and,
Second, we have a "theatre" to keep us occupied. We get to watch old videos of Clinton & Gingrich back in '95.
We hear the same template about how the GOP will be blamed in 2013 because they were in 1995. Of course, they always forget to tell you that the GOP kept the House and Senate in '96 and beyond.
We hear that the GOP lost seats in '96. They don't tell you that there was a wave election in '94 and it's not unusual for those seats to go back in the next election.
They tell you that President Clinton was reelected in '96. Yes, he was. He was reelected running as "a centrist" or Republican Lite is what many angry Democrats used to call him. I think that 4.8% unemployment had a lot more to do with President Clinton getting 48% in a 3-way race than any memories of the 1995 shutdown.
The real consequences of this 2013 shutdown won't be on the House. Most of these guys will be reelected because they represent safe districts.
The real impact is "red state Democrats," or the same people that you never see standing with Senator Reid or showing up on Sunday shows defending ObamaCare. (I am talking about Senators from West Virginia, Arkansas, South Dakota, Louisiana, Alaska, Montana and North Carolina.)
Don't get me wrong. I think that this shutdown is really stupid. It is a failure of leadership, especially presidential leadership. Where has President Obama been for the last few months? Didn't he anticipate that something like this was bound to happen?
This shutdown devalues US prestige around the world. We look like a "banana republic" without the bananas. We look weak and disorganized, at least that's how they see us in Europe.
Yes, there is a lot of blame to go around here. No one has a monopoly on stupidity. However, President Obama is the only one who can lead, speak to the nation and tell both sides to cut a deal.
For example, President Obama could agree to a one year delay on the ObamaCare individual mandate and the elimination of waivers and preferences.
President Obama would benefit politically from such a delay. It would give the ObamaCare computers a chance to fix the "glitches" and protect a lot of Democrats in 2014.
So the "rain delay" will end and the game will resume. My question is this: who will watch it or care?
You can hear CANTO TALK here.
