I have hit CNN and most of its anchors pretty hard over the years, but right now, they are actually doing their job by properly placing blame on the Democrats for the continued government shutdown.
Both Jake Tapper and Dana Bash have called out Democrats on live TV, pointing out that traditionally, the party that votes against the funding, which in this case is the Democrats, is entitled to receive the blame.
The problem is that the general public has always blamed the party in charge, which is what happened at the polls on Tuesday, and that fact seemed to surprise Tapper when election results were finalized that evening.
Tapper has battled with numerous Democrats on this issue, always pointing out that it is their party that is choosing not to support the continuing resolution (CR).
For instance, Tapper recently discussed the shutdown with Rep. Melania Stansbury (D-NM), who immediately put the blame on Republicans for the suspension of SNAP benefits due to the shutdown.
She claimed, "Let me be clear, the administration is choosing to starve American children with money that they already have appropriated. This is a choice by the White House. They are choosing to cut off food assistance."
Tapper responded, "Congresswoman, this is also a choice by Senate Democrats to not vote to open the government."
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), I believe, has done a fairly good job of messaging on the shutdown, but he is also living in fantasyland at times.
For instance, over the last two weeks, poll numbers for Republicans have been slipping, with the GOP clearly being blamed by voters for the ongoing shutdown. The numbers were not horrific, but they were trending in that direction, and the GOP was clearly falling behind.
Johnson stated, “But statistics like that, polls like that, don’t surprise me. The entire media establishment is parroting the talking points of the Democrats every day. It’s the most staggering level of gaslighting we have ever seen in American politics.”
While there are still media members who are hitting the GOP for the shutdown, it is hardly an overwhelming majority of outlets. Honestly, this is the most honest I have seen the media on this front, as I have seen anchors on every network push back against Dems attempting to put the onus on the GOP. We cannot keep crying that the media is to blame for all our problems because people are sick and tired of hearing it. We know, for the most part, the media is biased, so we have to work with that handicap whether we like it or not.
As the election results were pouring in on Tuesday night, Tapper was stunned that the Democrats had pulled off a clean sweep. He stated, “Democrats are the ones that are not voting to fund the government. Now, I understand why they’re doing so, they’re doing so because of health care and they want to fight, and they want Republicans to negotiate, et cetera, et cetera. The messaging by Democrats around this shutdown has been sharper than I’ve seen Democrats on any issue in a long time.”
He continued, “They have convinced voters, Democratic voters and independent voters, that it’s the Republicans’ fault. And just on the numbers, that might not be actually accurate in terms of who’s voting to open the government and who isn’t.”
This is going to be a tough pill to swallow for a lot of people, but it is exactly why the GOP has to be the party of compromise, but we need to do it intelligently. If you are going to give in, give in with a purpose, that being to expose the Democrats' hypocrisy.
For instance, I have stated that I believe the GOP should put standalone legislation on the floor right now to extend the subsidies for Obamacare for one full year, keeping them just as they are right now. It’s not ideal, but it puts Democrats on the defensive. Here you go… the subsidies you wanted are extended, just like you did in 2021 and 2022, so tell me why we cannot finalize the deal. If Democrats vote yes, problem solved, and if they refuse to vote, you expose their hypocrisy and put their party on the defensive. Just be smart, and you can win this game even though we are playing it with a handicap.
