Teach Republicans a Lesson

Peggy Noonan tells Wall Street Journal readers that "it may take a defeat in November for the GOP to unlearn the lessons of power."

Congressional Republicans right now seem just like the liberal Republicans of the great Losing Era of Republican history, circa 1960-80. All the Republican congressmen in those days had good beliefs, and shared them at the Rotary luncheon back home. The government was getting too big and taxes were too high. Then they'd go back to Washington and vote for higher spending and higher taxes. But not as high as the Democrats, they'd point out. Their job was to stand athwart history and cry, "Please slow down just a little bit!"

Republicans don't even make good speeches anymore. They're more concerned with

how big the minority Democratic bloc in the House really is, how many votes the other team has in what committee, where to go for legal money, how the press will react to any given decision or statement.

A reporter told me a story a few weeks ago. He was at a meeting with an important Republican congressman. Talk turned to the upcoming 2006 elections. The congressman argued it will be better for the Republicans than people think; they'll hold the House. He said they are better at getting the vote out. He made the case for this based on turnout figures in 2000 and 2004. They have more money. He made the case for this assertion too. And they have a message. The reporter who was there said later he noticed the oddest thing. Under "message" his notes were blank. He couldn't really remember what the congressman said.

This underscores the importance of persuading Missouri Republicans to not vote Republican. Especially if they actually believe the way small-government Republicans are supposed to believe. The best thing Republicans can do is throw out corrupt big-spending Republican Congressmen, even if it means electing a Democrat in 2006 (because so many votes went Libertarian!), and then see how the candidates in 2008 suddenly recall the libertarian message that voters want to hear (even if it seems they don't want to hear it from Libertarians).

A Democratic majority in the house will spin their wheels for the next two years trying to impeach Bush (who will be out of office before Dems succeed anyway), and it just might be that a Democratic congressional spending spree might elicit from Bush his very first veto in his two terms as President.

Southwest Missouri needs a genuinely free-market Congressman. Southwest Missouri should gift America with the first card-carrying Libertarian in Congress.