As Greg Sargent points out, scandal mongering is no substitute for an actual agenda. The fact is that the GOP is morally and intellectually bankrupt. They were before Scandalgate started they will be when it ends and they are now.
Behind the scenes leading Republicans know this all too well.
"Republicans are furiously trying to spin the administration’s “scandals” into political gold, but it’s unclear whether Americans are taking the bait. As Greg pointed out this morning, anew Gallup poll finds only a slim majority of Americans who are “closely following” the Benghazi and Internal Revenue Service scandals. A large plurality are either not following closely, or not paying attention at all."
"As time progresses and these scandals begin to die down, the odds that Republicans will capture some advantage diminish. Moreover, there’s a chance this scandal fever will backfire and harm the GOP’s standing. Already, Republican officials are warning against scandal overreach, and conservative elites are warning that these controversies — even if they’re substantive — aren’t a substitute for an actual plan to govern. “Democratic scandal does not take the place of a Republican agenda,” writes the National Review, “a purely negative message, however justified, will not produce the governing majority Republicans should be aiming for in the next two elections.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2013/05/17/scandals-are-no-substitute-for-an-agenda/
At the end of the day, the scandal mongering reveals the basic bankruptcy of today's Republican party. They go this way as they have nothing substantive to offer the country. It can only go on for so long. As of yesterday's Gallup reading, Obama has a 51% job approval rating with 42% disapproving.
http://www.gallup.com/home.aspx
http://www.politico.com/blogs/politico-live/2013/05/obama-approval-rating-holding-steady-164302.html?hp=r1
Interest in the scandal is historically low as well. Meanwhile White House Senior Adviser Dan Pfeiffer hit just the right note on Sunday.
"White House senior adviser Dan Pfeiffer said on Sunday “there is no question that Republicans are trying to make political hay” with the IRS targeting of conservative groups."
"While acknowledging there is a “very real problem at the IRS,” Pfeiffer also blasted the GOP as attempting to make it a partisan issue to “try to drag Washington into a swamp of partisan fishing expeditions, trumped-up hearings and false allegations.”
Behind the scenes leading Republicans know this all too well.
"Republicans are furiously trying to spin the administration’s “scandals” into political gold, but it’s unclear whether Americans are taking the bait. As Greg pointed out this morning, anew Gallup poll finds only a slim majority of Americans who are “closely following” the Benghazi and Internal Revenue Service scandals. A large plurality are either not following closely, or not paying attention at all."
"As time progresses and these scandals begin to die down, the odds that Republicans will capture some advantage diminish. Moreover, there’s a chance this scandal fever will backfire and harm the GOP’s standing. Already, Republican officials are warning against scandal overreach, and conservative elites are warning that these controversies — even if they’re substantive — aren’t a substitute for an actual plan to govern. “Democratic scandal does not take the place of a Republican agenda,” writes the National Review, “a purely negative message, however justified, will not produce the governing majority Republicans should be aiming for in the next two elections.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2013/05/17/scandals-are-no-substitute-for-an-agenda/
At the end of the day, the scandal mongering reveals the basic bankruptcy of today's Republican party. They go this way as they have nothing substantive to offer the country. It can only go on for so long. As of yesterday's Gallup reading, Obama has a 51% job approval rating with 42% disapproving.
http://www.gallup.com/home.aspx
http://www.politico.com/blogs/politico-live/2013/05/obama-approval-rating-holding-steady-164302.html?hp=r1
Interest in the scandal is historically low as well. Meanwhile White House Senior Adviser Dan Pfeiffer hit just the right note on Sunday.
"White House senior adviser Dan Pfeiffer said on Sunday “there is no question that Republicans are trying to make political hay” with the IRS targeting of conservative groups."
"While acknowledging there is a “very real problem at the IRS,” Pfeiffer also blasted the GOP as attempting to make it a partisan issue to “try to drag Washington into a swamp of partisan fishing expeditions, trumped-up hearings and false allegations.”
“We’ve seen this playbook from the Republicans before,” Pfeiffer said on NBC's “Meet the Press.” “What they want to do when they’re lacking a positive agenda is try to drag Washington into a swamp of partisan fishing expeditions, trumped-up hearings and false allegations. We’re not going to let that happen. The president’s got business to do for the American people.”
“There is no question that Republicans are trying to make political hay here,” he said.
That's exactly the right note to hit. While by all means lets have the needed oversight for the IRS it should not be an open-ended Republican fishing expedition. How much the White House will be able to stay on message is an open question but it's encouraging to see that they understand their objective.
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