Show, Don't Tell

Perhaps reluctant to test the theory that you can't beat something with nothing, the Republican Party on Thursday rolled out a cri de coeur for the November elections — a "Pledge to America" on how it would govern Congress if it gains the majority.

It's supposed to inoculate the GOP against the charge that it's merely the "Party of No," its only agenda being obstructing Democratic initiatives. It's also supposed to provide a unifying theme for Republicans to rally around.

Comparisons to 1994's "Contract with America," which preceded a Republican takeover of the legislative branch, are inevitable. But don't be fooled. The "Contract" was an overhyped element of the '94 elections (polls showed 70 percent of Americans had not even heard of it before voting), and the "Pledge" follows a similar strategy.

The "Contract," though, was a concise (841 words) list of legislation Republicans promised would be voted on the first 100 days of the new Congress. The broader "Pledge," which clocks in at 48 pages (if you include all the pretty pictures), offers a lot more bloviation but fewer specifics.

If conservative platitudes send tingles down your leg, the "Pledge" is your stimulus package.

It reads too much like a husband coming off yet another bender, promising his wife that this time, he really, really means it — I'll get sober, get a job, be a better father, etc.

After the heady early days of the GOP-led Congress in 1995, when a bunch of idealistic newcomers to the Capitol were intoxicated with hope for changing the way Washington works (sound familiar?), Republican old bulls eventually ensured the status quo would thrive.

By 2006, the GOP was bankrupt of ideas and nearly had bankrupted the nation with its spending.

Exercising congressional power wasn't a means to an end — it was the end. Republicans had become what they accused Democrats of being 12 years earlier. The alleged party of limited government had squandered its credibility with voters.

The "Pledge" isn't going to restore it. It hits many of the right notes on paper — lots of crooning about reducing spending, repealing Obamacare (or at least parts of it) and "transfer(ing) power back to the people." Any clumsy musician can tell you, though, that reading the score and performing it are two different things.

As Matt Welch of Reason.com notes, the GOP platform of 2008 included this passage: "We do not support government bailouts of private institutions. Government interference in the markets exacerbates problems in the marketplace and causes the free market to take longer to correct itself." This was while the Bush administration (with the support of many congressional Republicans) was authorizing federal bailouts of banks and auto manufacturers.

There's every indication that, like 1994, Democrats are going to be defenestrated at the polls in November. Like 1994 (and also like 2006), it largely will be a function of an electorate disgusted with incumbent misuse of power and seeking retribution, not a heartfelt belief in the alternative's philosophy or promises. Republicans are going to benefit from Democratic misery, with or without a "Pledge."

The GOP will be judged not by what it wrote in September, but what it does after January 2011. Show us; don't tell us.

REPRINTED FROM THE PANAMA CITY NEWS HERALD.

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