The Future is Cao

[Lunar]

Lunar's snarky comment:  The future is only two years long?

M E M O

To: House Republicans
From: Leader Boehner
Re: The Future is Cao
Date: 07 Dec 08

The people of Louisiana this weekend elected two new House Republicans, with Anh "Joseph" Cao ousting a corrupt Democratic incumbent in a heavily Democratic district and John Fleming successfully defending the seat held by retiring Rep. Jim McCrery, a seat Democratic leaders and their special interest allies had circled on the map and gone all-out in hopes of winning.

As The Hill reported last night, the Louisiana results "give Republicans a second shot of good news in less than a week, following Georgia Sen. Saxby Chambliss' relatively easy win in a runoff in that state."

As House Republicans look ahead to the next two years, the Cao victory is a symbol of what can be achieved when we think big, present a positive alternative, and work aggressively to earn the trust of the American people. Joseph Cao is a Vietnamese immigrant whose experience in America drew him to the Republican Party and its traditional commitment to freedom and reform. Working with like-minded Republicans such as Governor Bobby Jindal, he took an aggressive stand against corruption, offering a principled alternative to what voters were offered by the local Democratic establishment. Shrugging off conventional wisdom, he ran as a reformer in a district hungry for new representation in Congress. And he won.

While Washington Democrats are busy spinning the Jefferson debacle as an aberration, they are in the process of trading it in for a new debacle with greater implications for national policy. Just days before the Cao win, Speaker Pelosi declared she "does not foresee" a change in the current leadership of the Ways & Means Committee, whose chairman faces questions about potential abuses of tax laws and House rules. It's disappointing the Speaker does not foresee making a change in the Ways & Means Committee leadership at this critical time for our nation's economy. Despite the economic hardships they face, working families across America are paying their taxes, and they deserve the confidence of knowing that the elected officials entrusted with the responsibility of crafting our nation's economic policies in these challenging times are following the rules as well.

The Cao victory is a symbol of our future. In the two years ahead, House Republicans will demonstrate our commitment to reform by holding ourselves to the highest possible ethical standard – and, with new faces like Joseph Cao and John Fleming and the rest of the incoming GOP freshman class in our ranks, by presenting principled, superior solutions to the challenges facing our country.

I congratulate our two newest colleagues, along with Governor Jindal and the people of Louisiana. And I look forward to working with you as we finish the 110th Congress and begin the 111th.

[Lunar]

Cao = Begich

Still, the focus of "Ethics, ethics, ethics" [and minority-outreach] is his idea of how the GOP comes back.

[Lunar]

Oh, he knows.

Cao was a freak occurrence and he doesn't say that Republicans should target such districts.

But what Boehner is arguing is that Cao's model could be applied to more moderate districts.  That focusing on ethical reform could be a winning strategy during one's campaign, perhaps more valuable than national security for example (depending on the district).

[Lunar]

Sigh.  C'mon man, think.

You're allowed to champion ethical reform of the system and champion yourself as a symbol of political morality even if your opponent isn't involved in a scandal.  He wants to rebrand the GOP as the people you can trust - it has to do with the undercurrent of campaign messaging.

[Lunar]

Well, you gotta start somewhere.

With the Democrats in universal power, it won't be hard to accuse them of not doing the politically "right" thing.  I mean, Obama's going to rack up the deficit and spend spend spend and then there's the auto industry bailout on the table.  These things are viewed by many voters as a political betrayal of the "little guy" and emphasizing transparency and political morality might not be a losing strategy...

[Lunar]

The GOP attempting to portray themselves as the part of ethics would be about as effective as Sheila Jackson Lee attempting to portray herself as a white male.

Jeezus people!

Well:

A) They have to start somewhere

B) It's impossible to be the party of ethics while your party is in complete power. That's why the GOP got such a smackdown in the ethics department lately.  With far more Democratic politicians out there at the moment, and with Democrats in complete control, guess who will be blamed for every government burp?

You really don't think that within a few cycles, the Republicans won't be able to shed their past and be the advocates of reform if they tried?  Large swaths of the public, which will be concentrated in a number of areas (which results in certain incumbents being more in danger), will disproportionately rebel against Obama's reaction to the economic crisis.  You don't have to accuse your challenger of ethical problems to try and subtly champion yourself as the responsible party.  Obama's about to engage in a mass spending program that many people will not understand and possibly hate.  Democrats are about to sign off on this.

[Lunar]

Sure.  But it's an easy bite when the other party is in power, no?

And I mean, if you read what he wrote, he's not arguing for people to base their entire campaigns on ethics.  He's just noting that it's a good ball to throw.  And from his perspective, the more Republicans convey this message, the better it is for the brand (which affects him), so I'm sure he's selfish.

I didn't want to say it because I thought it might be obvious and have negative implications, but this memo is clearly a reminder to his fellow congressmen to not keep their bribes in their freezer, or even take bribes.  It's a reminder that ethical failings will destroy your career.

But, even though that was the undertones to the message, I think the ethics-based, "looking out for the little guy" message (which should obviously not be tied to an accusation that your opponent is corrupt), is a winning idea for the near term.

[Lunar]

Sigh.  C'mon man, think.

You should know better by now.

He's capable of thinking.  I believe this or I would not respond to his post and I'd ignore him. 


I really can't understand why a party deciding to champion ethics more (regardless of is history, both sides) is coming under fire

[Lunar]

like the partisan hacks have been posting for the last few days.

?