Newt Gingrich, it seems, has learned a new word. The title of his talk tonight at the Southern Republican Leadership Conference is “Becoming the Party of Yes.” [1]
The party of “yes”?
It’s a worthy goal, but the GOP has a long way to go to get there. Last year, Republican Senators went to unprecedented length [2]s to slow down legislation, even targeting bills that many in their own party ended up voting for. They’ve blocked Executive Branch nominees at a rate never before seen [3]. They even forced a time consuming cloture vote on judicial nominee Barbara Keenan [4] even though not a single Republican was willing to oppose her on her merits. And, for a while, GOP Senators decided that it was in the best interest of the country if they didn’t show up to work after lunch [5].
Gingrich himself isn’t known as a fan of cooperation [6]. But maybe he’s as confused by the “party of yes” concept as Sarah Palin is about the “party of no.” [7]