ODDS of 2 to 1: Keys to 2010 Victory

ODDS of 2 to 1: Keys to 2010 Victory
Hugh Hewitt
Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Voters are ready and eager to deliver a powerful rebuke to President Obama’s hard left lurch and the politics of hyper-partisanship practiced by Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid.

If Republicans stay on message, they will sweep the elections of November 2, reclaim the House for fiscally responsible policies and rebalance the Senate so more left-wing jam downs are foreclosed.

The “If” is a big one, but the message isn’t hard to remember. The mnemonic device is the phrase ODDS of 2 to 1.

“O” is for Obamare, the slowly spreading killer legislative virus that Democrats jammed down the throats of America in the face of overwhelming opposition. The massive losses anticipated by corporate America were just the first waves of the Obamacare tsunami to crash into the lives of Americans. As premiums rise and coverage declines in quality, especially for seniors, GOP candidates have to remind voters that everything that is happening was predicted, but President Obama’s disdain for voters led him to ignore the results in Massachusetts, Virginia and New Jersey. Republican candidates have to campaign not just against the terrible substance of Obamacare, but also the Chicago-style politics it represents.

“D” is for deficit –this year’s is going to come in at at least $1.4 trillion and could reach as high as $1.6 trillion, ten times the deficit of 2007, and powered not by a TARP or a “stimulus” plan but by give aways to all the favored constituencies of Congressional Democrats.

“D” is for debt, as in the exploding federal debt which is approaching $14 trillion and rising at a wild rate because of the president and the Congress.

The combination of the deficit and the debt put the United States at risk of a fiscal stroke that will make the crisis in Greece seem like child’s play.

“S” is for schools which are in many places failing and in others beset by massive cutbacks brought about because of high unemployment and a stagnant economy. The schools are burdened by the entrenched interests of the teachers’ unions which dictate much of the Democratic agenda on schools and which block the obvious reforms. GOP candidates need to read the two key books on education reform –Jay Mathews’ Work Hard. Be Nice and Doug Lemov’s Teach Like a Champion. Every Republican on the stump should be able to talk passionately and knowingly about what works and what doesn’t and why he or she will support movements like KIPP and teachers like Lemov while battling entrenched unions that are paralyzing crucially needed reforms that can rescue a generation of urban youth.

The “2” in ODDS of 2 to 1 are the two international crises that every candidate should be ready to call the president to account on.

First, President Obama must stop bullying and blaming Israel, our closest ally in the Middle East and a democracy beset by fascist enemies intent not on achieving peace with the Jewish State but with its destruction.

Second, the president must stop “reaching out” to Iran and its fanatical leaders. Enough of the initiatives and the New Year’s messages. Support the Democracy Movement and prepare to stand with the Free World to stop the Iranian government’s nuclear ambitions.

Finally, every Republican ought to have one response to the hundreds of questions that will come –especially from Democrats seeking to divide the opposition arrayed against them—on the topic of immigration. That one response is that nothing can be debated and no solutions advanced until and unless the border fence is completed. It was begun too late by President Bush and abandoned quickly by President Obama and his Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, but the fence is the obvious and urgently needed first step in protected the American people from the violence and chaos surging through Mexico. The Arizona law being debated this week underscores the massive failure of the Congressional Democrats to take border security seriously. Republican candidates need to be smart about the fence, its effectiveness, and how far it has to go to be finished and effective.

“ODDS of 2 to 1” is just a device to keep priorities in focus and campaigns on message. Everything else is a diversion, and the president and his colleagues on the Hill facing electoral doom will do whatever they can to change the subjects from those above. Only an ill-prepared nominee will allow them to do that.