From Newsmax.com
Pelosi, Reid Will Be Boon to GOP
By Ronald Kessler
Republicans should rejoice that Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid will likely remain the Democratic leaders in Congress, Republican strategist Brad Blakeman tells Newsmax.
“One of the best things that ever happened to Republicans is Harry Reid continuing to lead the Senate,” says Blakeman, who appears regularly on Fox News and other networks. “He’s so divisive. His acceptance speech was not contrite or conciliatory; it was combative.”
Pelosi, who is expected to be elected minority leader in the House, will be an even bigger lightning rod, says Blakeman, a former Bush White House aide. Neither Reid nor Pelosi got the message that the 2010 election results amounted to a rejection of their agenda and President Barack Obama’s.
"They’re universally disliked by the electorate as a whole, and if it’s the same old, same old, then the American people are going to see that,” Blakeman says. “Although they voted a whole bunch of Democrats out, the leadership of a very important part of government remains in place.”
With Pelosi, “It is all about retaining power,” Blakeman says. “The American people rebuked Democratic leadership across the board in the election. If she and her party cannot realize that and accept that, then there is no hope for their party.”
Like Pelosi and Reid, President Obama has learned little from the 2010 election. Instead of changing course, he has been claiming he did not take the time to be persuasive enough about the wisdom of his policies.
“I don’t think that Obama is capable of changing course,” Blakeman says. “Bill Clinton is a political animal who understood what he needed to do in order to have accomplishments. I think as president, Obama is such an ideologue that he will never change.”
If Obama is disconnected from the election results, he is also disconnected from voters.
“John Boehner’s emotion when he spoke after the election was heartfelt and real,” Blakeman says of the expected new speaker of the House. “Obama is devoid of any emotion. He’s robotic and programmed.”
Americans are beginning to see through Obama’s facade, Blakeman says.
“Here’s a guy who said that the hallmark of his presidency would be bipartisanship and transparency,” Blakeman says. “He hasn’t delivered on any of those.”
As noted in the Newsmax story Obama Widens His Credibility Gap, his professed regret at the lack of bipartisanship in Washington was for show.
“He called the Republicans enemies and attacked tea party supporters,” Blakeman says. “He also said, ‘We’re funding global AIDS, and the other side is not.’ It’s the American people who have given the money. Not Obama, not the Democrats.
As a matter of fact, President Bush gave more aid to Africa than any president in American history. He credited the American people with being so generous and compassionate.”
The fact that Reid and Pelosi will continue on the scene as a symbol of everything voters dislike about the Obama agenda will only goad Obama on, Blakeman predicts.
“Politicians who think that the electorate is too dumb to appreciate all of the great things they do for the people are the most dangerous politicians because public opinion means nothing to them,” Blakeman notes. “They’re more concerned with their ideology than with reelection.”
Ronald Kessler is chief Washington correspondent of Newsmax.com.
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