Our political Quote of the Day comes from MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough, a former Congressman and independent-minded Republican who warns GOPers of the danger of overreaching as they take over the House and have more numbers in the Senate:
“If Republicans overreach in 2011, they will re-elect Barack Obama in 2012,” he said. “They need to focus but make sure they don’t scare little kids and pets. This is the Republican Party’s last chance—not just for me but for the American voters. They will either mean what they say or be swept aside.”
This is the key about our politics: meaning what you say. Much of the rhetoric (such as Rep. Darrell Issa calling the Obama administration one of the most corrupt administrations in modern times) is overblown, exaggerated and red meat type partisan polemics more suited for a talk show host, a troll in a blog comments section, or a speech to a group of like-minded voters on in a small hall during re-election campaigns. Words do matter and just as the last election showed the Democrats lost independents and some of the center, the Democrats could regain it if GOPers become identified with the kind of verbiage associated with a Michelle Bachman. Branding matters and the GOP’s actions in coming weeks will define its brand. The base can be sated but there’s a danger that will chase others not enamored with Obama or the Democrats away from the other side — if, as Scarborough warns, the party begins to scare little kids and pets.
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.