A Pyrrhic victory?

Flush with last week’s election victory, the Republicans have wasted no time shooting themselves in the foot in public. They may have won the mid-term battle, but if they aren’t careful, they will lose the war.

The old guard seems especially susceptible to political hoof-in-mouth disease. Not even waiting for the election, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said, “The single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president.” Democrats denounced it as pre-election proof that the Republicans are more focused on politics than policy.

Post-election, the Republicans have been so inept at controlling the messaging that they are, for the most part, allowing the Democrats and the lamestream media to define their agenda. John Boehner continues to beat the “we will move to repeal ObamaCare” drum. That’s great red meat for the base, but it isn’t the substance the public is clamoring for, and it is less likely than Joy Behar cleaning up her language.

The “new guys” in leadership, Eric Kantor and Paul Ryan, have done a better job of getting out the message and constantly alluding to instituting “common sense reforms.” The longer the Democrat machine, including the press, of course, keeps reiterating the nonsense that the Republicans offered no ideas, the more Americans will believe it.