Case in point. "Stop SAYing those things about my governor!"
Indeed. Knock it off. This isn't the playground, it isn't the place for insults and childish namecalling.
None of the GOP policritters, not even those I voted for, are without flaws. When they step on their johnson, it is not outrageous to point it out. Daniels has shown himself not ready for the Bigs, what with his tendency to go for the capillary. He's got plenty of company with other GOP POTUS also-rans.
If getting the results we've gotten in Indiana is "stepping on your johnson" then so be it. We could use a lot more of it, all across the country.
Daniels isn't without flaws, true. But the stuff you're harping on him for aren't flaws at all. His ways may be different from the way you'd like to see things done, his priorities different from yours, but you can't argue with the success he's had. Not if you measure success by results.
mak makes some good points, one of which is that Daniels doesn't understand the mood of the GOP base at this juncture and the way the center has moved toward the right due to the actions of the Dems(1). He could have emphasized the radicalism of the Dems and the reasonableness of the GOP, but chose to give them an out and a victory because this opportunity wasn't accounted for in Mitch's Big Plan. BHO had such a tin ear for the Green protests in Iran. They didn't fit BHO's plan to sit down & talk with the mullahs, so BHO flubbed that opportunity, too.
You're kidding, right? We've created the perfect contrast against the Dems' radicalism precisely by
not being petty partisan radicals ourselves.
The Dems are trying to make us out to be overaggressive and heavy handed, claiming that our actions forced them to flee. We won't prove them wrong be being overaggressive and heavy handed in response. We prove them wrong by being reasonable and sensible, by calmly going about the peoples' business in a grown up fashion.
Hoosiers don't want firebrands and demagogues, theatrics and vitriol. We want reasonable folks doing reasonable things. Hardline confrontation? Not so much.
You're right that the conservative base wants a fight. But is giving them one them a fight over right-to-work the smart thing to do right now? The goal in politics is to to enact our policy. To that end the target audience isn't the base, and the purpose is not to stoke up the base's passions. We're playing to the entire state, not preaching to the choir. We aren't trying to earn a nomination for the Governor, and we're not trying to give people like you an opportunity to cheer for blood.
We're trying to implement the school voucher program in Indiana. Don't lose sight of that, don't let the other side distract you.
Yep, and the Dems in Indiana showed how to put him to use, and can use that victory to their advantage in subsequent engagements. Hopefully, Daniels will recover despite being slapped about, right out of the gate.
In any case, Sun Tzu was not all Fabian maneuver. If you have the advantage, which Daniels did (given the way Dems have been alienating the center with their radicalism), I don't recall reading in any of the translations that you then cede the field after the opposition chose their ground poorly.
The Dems set themselves up for a beating and Daniels gave them an out. I have nothing against maneuver, guile, misdirection, and other such tactics. They have their place, as does a big ol' cluebat, when the opposition is so kind as to stick his fat noggin in the way of it.
You speak as though the fight is over and settled. Don't be so shortsighted. We're only just beginning.
What have the Dems gained in Indiana so far? Nothing. A temporary reprieve from a right-to-work bill that we didn't really want or need at this time, one that we'll still get later this year anyway. And at what price? They're using up all of their capital on this little temper tantrum of theirs. Let them stay away! Let them reject our olive branches to them! The longer they stay away, and the more petulant they are about it, the less support they'll have when they return.
We're laying the groundwork for easier passage of our legislation once the Dems do eventually come back into the state. And they're making it easier and easier by the day.
You love your military platitudes. Don't forget the one about not to interrupting your enemy when he's making a mistake.
Above all, don't lose sight of the big picture. The goal isn't to make the Dems look bad RFN. It isn't to punishingly defeat them at every turn. Let's not get so hung up on each and every battle that we lose the larger war.
