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Obama's popularity ratings continue to plummet. The passage of the health care and financial reform, which should have triggered celebration on the blue side of the aisle, don't seem to be giving any up tick to the president's PR position. The BP spill, and the administration's glacial reaction to it, hasn't helped the President's cause much and there seems to be an uncomfortable internal battle between the President and those in his party that are running for reelection.
This is a prime opening for the Republicans, yet in many ways it's the Republicans who truly seem at war with one another. From the media's perspective, the party of Reagan now seems to view "moderate' as a term only surpassed in disdain by that deadly label - "liberal".
The Democrats are doing their best to portray Republicans as the party of 'no" and unless they begin to propose workable alternatives to the Democrat's agenda, they run the risk of being viewed mainly as obstructionists, as opposed to problem solvers. Whereas the county does seem to be veering to the right, any true success will most likely not come by making a hard right. Britain tried that and their Conservatives paid for it. It took a centrist, David Cameron, to begin to bring Britain's conservatives back to the forefront.
Michael Steele doesn't seem to be the chairman that the RNC needs at this time. As Obama's ratings nosedive, the Republicans need a strategic co-coordinator to rally the troops and come up with a strategic unified message, as opposed to several splintered messages. The party also needs to develop some strong presidential front runners. Sarah Palin is definitely a strong brand name, and a wealthy one. ABC new estimated that Palin had made in excess of $12 million since stepping down as Alaska's governor. Yet a recent CNN pool has Obama beating her by 55% to 42% in a head-to-head battle. More worrisome for the Palin camp, 69% stated she was not qualified to be president. Obviously much can change between not and 2012, but at present there seems to be no urgency to develop a strong conservative platform with room for moderates.
For now, many view the Republicans as the party of obstructionism, with an intolerance that seems to view any form of cooperation or compromise as a type of blasphemy not to be tolerated. The Tea Party could become a truly influential movement, but without a true agenda apart from big government being a bad thing, chances are it will eventually implode or begin to splinter into various factions.
This is a perfect opportunity for the Republicans to swoop in and capitalize on the current anger and dissatisfaction in the country, but without a strategic media campaign that reaches out to and resonates with the voters; it could well be a missed opportunity.
Copyright © Anthony Mora 2010
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