Rachel Maddow had an excellent segment on her show, wherein she analyzed this question: Who leads the Republican Party?
Is it the President? The GOP candidate for President? Is it the House Majority leader Boehner? Apparently these three nominal leaders aren't effectively leading, since they cannot even persuade the rank and file to vote. It's not House Whip Roy Blunt, since he apparently cannot even count votes.
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So who has been playing the role of Wormtongue? I've noticed that Newt Gangrich and Tom DeLay have been up on the Hill, and they are siding with the bloc who voted against the bill. Perhaps they are the Ghost Leaders from Congresses Past?
This behavior is very strange, given the usual father-knows-best parental model embraced by the Republican Party, as described by linguist George Lakoff in his book Don't Think Like an Elephant. Technically, it's called the Strict-Father Model, and it explains why their message is so disciplined. He also suggests that the Democratic Party operates under the Loving Parent Model. But I digress.
But then the simple explanation dawned on me. The reason that the tin soldiers aren't lining up for their patriarchs is because they expect Obama to win, and the the also know that Congress will remain in the hands of the Democrats. So, there are no fancy committee chairmanships to worry about. No plush leadership roles up for grabs. They will have almost no power! So, with no rewards for following their leaders, there's nothing to lose, except their own seat. So they will vote to cover their butts, regardless of the whole world, hell, and hand-basket thing.
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