Republicans Struggling To Figure Out How To Criticize Obama

[babylonsister]

Obama frustrates Republicans' desire to criticize
By Adam Nagourney
Published: December 23, 2008


WASHINGTON: It's not so easy being the loyal opposition these days.

Nearly two months after Barack Obama's election, Republicans are struggling to figure out how - or even whether - to challenge or criticize him as he prepares to assume the presidency.

The president-elect is proving to be an elusive and frustrating target. He has defied attempts to be framed ideologically. His cabinet picks have won wide praise. An effort by the Republican National Committee to link Obama to the unfolding scandal involving Governor Rod Blagojevich of Illinois and the accusations that he tried to sell Obama's Senate seat was dismissed by no less a figure than John McCain, the Republican whom Obama beat for the presidency.

The toughest criticism of Obama during this period has come not from the right but from the left, primarily over his selection of Rick Warren, a leading opponent of gay marriage, to deliver the invocation on Inauguration Day.

There are plenty of battles ahead that may provide Republicans an opportunity to find their footing. They will no doubt find arguments to use against Obama when he starts to lay out the details of his economic stimulus plans, or signals how aggressively he wants to fulfill a pledge to labor to back a bill that would take away employers' right to demand a secret ballot-election to determine if workers want to unionize.

Still, this image of Republican uncertainty is a testimony to the political skills of the incoming president, and a reminder of just how difficult a situation the Republican Party is in. More than that, though, Republicans and Democrats say, it is evidence of the unusual place the country is in now: buoyed by prospect of an inauguration while at the same time deeply worried about the future. It is going to be complicated making a case against Obama, many Republicans said, in an environment where people simply want him to succeed and may not have much of an appetite for partisan politics.

more...

http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/12/23/americas/memo.php

[muntrv]

1. That's because repukes lack a vocabulary.

[firedupdem]

2. At the end of the day....this country is in desperate need of real

leadership. Bush and Co. have screwed this country over and PE Obama wants to steer it back in the right direction. Repubs looked like idiots with that dumb add with Blago. People are sick of the fighting and division. Thats another reason why Sarah and Michelle's "Real America Vs. The Rest of Us" didn't go over so well.

[boppers]

3. We can teach them a thing or two.

We know how to hold our leaders accountable, something they apparently don't understand.

[peace frog]

4. Good, let 'em struggle

Here's hoping Obama will confound the GOPers at every turn. May they experience the 8 years of complete frustration and despair they so richly deserve.

[rocktivity]

5. "By Adam Nagourney..."

:boring:
rocknation

[Uzybone]

6. Have they been to DU lately?

they can get lots of tips here.

[AtomicKitten]

7. Which makes his beefcake paparazzi shot that much more hilarious!

It's good to be king!