What if they are incompetent?

There is an election today… Perhaps you’ve heard word of it?

A Historic shift is likely to occur due to so-called Tea Party sensibilities. An electorate that wants a smaller gov’t spending less and intruding on people’s lives less. They want to have less of a tax burden and more liberty to live their lives as they please.

And the Republicans are about to reap the rewards. But the Tea Party has promised… if the GOP strays from conservative tea party principles and simply goes back to business as usual, with pork barrel spending and become, again, the party of “Democrat-Lite!” then woe betide them for they will feel the wrath of a scorned electorate. RINOs (Republicans in Name Only) are definitely an endangered species, and there are no bag limits of the hunters. And Tea Party people have rifle, actual and proverbial. The proverbial rifles will be uncased in November 2012, presumably. (I’m sure the actual rifles will not be needed. Well, I hope.)

That’s the assumption. That either the Tea Party sensibility will reign or the RINOs will. One is good, the other bad. But, and I’m being pessimistic here, what if there is a 3rd more likely option. What if the GOP is just incompetent? What if they try to instate Tea Party type policies? They will fail. The GOP, beholden now (let’s assume) to the Tea Party won’t control 60 votes in the Senate. Probably not even a majority. And they won’t be able to override a presidential veto. Even a perfect legislative quiver in the House will simply crash against the rocks of opposition. In order to pass anything a bill has to be worded in such a way that folks can’t vote against it. And a bill like that that doesn’t compromise on principle, while possible, is very hard to forge.

But they can fail and look good, or more likely, they can fail and look bad... Fumble the sentiment, the initiative, and the message. Oh dear.

So what are we left with? The GOP has to go for political wins instead of legislative passage. “We had a good law, but THEY kept if from seeing the light of day. We need your help next election to bring more folks that will vote with us.” So the Tea Party will have to keep going another 2 years with the same enthusiasm, not get tired, hackneyed, or out of style. And the opposition will be working to make those sensibilities seem like that and more.

Another political win the GOP can point to is “Well we did have control of the House, and we stopped the bleeding, no more Leftist paper came past. We were a do-nothing Congress when that’s what the people wanted. The Congress before was DOING something alright, it was doing damage to America.” That’s a smaller win. And may be the best we can hope for. A restraining order against a Lefty agenda.

But none of this happens in a bubble. The other side is not composed completely of dummies, and they will be thinking of their own political angles to play to counter these perceived successes.

No. The big danger to conservatives (which Gunnies generally are, even if they are a one-issue political animal only concerned with the Second Amendment) is that a new Speaker Boehner isn’t up for the leadership job. The Leadership has to stick to principles and run the table as much as they are able. If their performance doesn’t appear inspired, then prepare for the second reign of Zombie Pelosi, as the Tea Party mentality puts a goodly portion of the electorate into the "this is your LAST chance to get this right" attitude.

Even the Metrocons notice.